British MP not happy with Emma Raducanu hiring Russian coach

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British MP Chris Bryant is not thrilled about Emma Raducanu hiring a Russian coach as he fears Russia will use it for their propaganda. In April, Raducanu split with coach Torben Beltz. Last week, The Daily Mail reported that Raducanu will be joined by former Russian tennis player Dmitry Tursunov during the North American hard court swing.

In April, Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian from competing at the tournament over the fears that Russia would use potential success of their players for their propaganda. Bryant, a Labour MP, has urged Raducanu to reconsider her choice.

"The Kremlin will portray this as a PR coup and an indication that the UK doesn’t really care about the war in Ukraine, so it’ll be a real shame if Emma Raducanu goes ahead with this. I urge her to think again and at the very least to condemn Putin’s barbaric war,” Bryant told The Telegraph.

MP Bryant not happy about Raducanu's decision

The comments Bryant made about Raducanu's decision to hire Tursunov was noticed in Russia.

Vladimir Kornilov of RIA Novosti hit out Bryant for his comments, describing them as a "Russophobia." "Now, it turns out that if she doesn't change her mind, at the very least, she will have to condemn publicly 'Putin's barbaric war.'

Now, she is preparing to go with him to a tournament somehere, but that's it, they are harassing her and she'll have to get rid of him. Do you understand the extent of their paranoia and outright Russophobia in the West?," Kornilov said.

On Sunday, Ben Rothenberg reported that Raducanu and Tursunov will be just together on a trial basis in Washington. Reportedly, Tursunov already has "preexisting commitments" for the National Bank Open in Toronto, which kicks off on August 7.

Emma Raducanu says this week (and last week) with coach Dmitry Tursunov is on a trial basis, and won’t be continuous; she said Tursunov already has preexisting commitments for Toronto next week. — Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) July 31, 2022