Russian does not help – Sport – Kommersant

The very first match of the US Open, which continues in New York, turned out to be the last for its sensational last year’s winner, Briton Emma Radukanu, who lost in two games to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. To what extent this result will affect the prospects for cooperation between Radukan and Russian coach Dmitry Tursunov, which has been criticized in the UK for political reasons, is not yet clear. But it is known that in a week and a half, the 19-year-old 11th racket of the world will drop in the ranking of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to the 80th position.

Having started working with Emma Radukanu at the end of July before the start of a series of tournaments on American hard, her current coach Dmitry Tursunov did not give a single even slightly noticeable interview. And Radukanu herself, who was criticized by part of the British establishment due to the fact that a Russian became her mentor, limited herself to very short comments – apparently, not wanting to draw special attention to this topic. And now, after the defeat in the first round of the US Open, which turned out to be a triumph for her a year ago, the Briton made it clear that she was not ready to talk about the prospects for her cooperation with Tursunov. “Right after the match, I will not decide anything. We spent a good six weeks in the States. To be honest, I haven’t thought about the rest yet, ”said the 19-year-old tennis player.

At the same time, it is obvious that in the case of Radukan there is not even a hint of the breakthroughs that, under the leadership of Tursunov, his two previous wards achieved – the Belarusian Arina Sobolenko and the Estonian Anette Kontaveit. In four tournaments held on the American continent, the Briton twice won two matches each (however, in Cincinnati, ex-first rackets of the world Victoria Azarenka and Serena Wilmyas became her victims) and twice suffered defeats at the very start. In New York, she was stopped by the 40th racket of the world, Alize Cornet. This 32-year-old tennis player has vast experience and extraordinary talent. In 2014, she played Serena Williams three times in a row, recently broke the 37-match unbeaten streak of world ranking polka Iga Sventek at Wimbledon, and is now holding her 63rd consecutive Grand Slam tournament, which is a record for women’s tennis.

And yet for Radukan, who currently occupies the 11th place in the ranking, the defeat with a score of 3:6, 3:6 is an unconditional failure. This result suggests that the Englishwoman, who finished with accurate blows only five of her 14 exits to the net, had no real chances to turn the tide of the struggle.

Cornet’s subtle, game instinct-based style proved to be more effective than the unskilled charge on the attack that her opponent demonstrated. And it is unlikely that the main reason for this can be considered the relatively light Wilson balls used in the women’s tournament, which are mercilessly criticized by many of its participants, and the calluses on the palms of the British, which were treated by a doctor during the meeting.

Emma Radukanu’s loss turned out to be the highlight of the second day at the Women’s US Open, although Kazakh star Yelena Rybakina, who sensationally won Wimbledon in July, also lost a few hours before her failure. By the way, she was also stopped by the representative of France – Clara Burel, who made her way into the main draw through qualification. But if the 25th racket of the world, Rybakin, who reached the third round at the US Open last season, is now unlikely to drop much in the rankings, then the Briton will fall by about 70 positions – to the 80th place. True, compared to August last year, when the happy US Open started for her, she will still stand much higher. But this fact is unlikely to be a strong consolation for Radukan. Even if she recently spent a few weeks in the top ten.

Evgeny Fedyakov