The story is how Alexander Volkov (Russian coach and former pro) was overtaken and hog-tied – for fun – in the locker room during the excessive rain delays that plagued Wimbledon this past summer. The culprit’s are rising tennis star Dmitry Tursunov and his trainer, Stacy. Tursunov, with a guilty smile tries to explain, “Nothing good comes of rain delays. Those who are a little more patient deal with it better than crazy people do. I’m slightly towards crazy.”
An aggressive baseliner with a powerful forehand and a first serve percentage of 74, Tursunov’s angelic blonde curls and blue eyes are a polarity to his wayward antics. Rainy day activities at the All England Club also included playing soccer with world number three Novak Djokovic in the locker room where they ripped up the carpets with their grass court shoes. And there were the all-out wrestling sessions, which Stacy used as a warm-up technique before matches. He explains, “Wrestling gets your whole body warmed up – mentally you’re focused and ready. I think some freaked out a little, but people certainly leave Dmitry alone now.”
24 years old from Moscow, Russia, the often unpredictable Tursunov has lived in Northern California since the age of 12 with his coach Vitaly Gorin, owner of Gorin Tennis Academy. He finally experienced a breakout on the tour last year after enduring a number of frustrating injuries to his left leg and back since turning pro six years prior. In 2006 Tursunov reached a career high ranking of 20, a personal-best 45 match wins, his first ATP title in Mumbai by defeating then ranked No. 7 Tommy Robredo of Spain in the semi-finals (7-6(2) 3-6 6-1) and No. 13 Czech Tomas Berdych in the final (6-3 4-6 7-6(5)). He became a hero in his native country by leading Russia to a win in the Davis Cup semi-finals against the U.S. by defeating Andy Roddick in a grueling, five hour, slug-fest on clay, neither player’s best surface (6-3 6-4 5-7 3-6 17-15). Russia went on to win their second ever Davis Cup title defeating Argentina 3-2.
So far 2007 has continued to be a success. Tursunov fought his way to the semi-finals in both Wimbledon warm-ups; at Queens Club in London he went down to American favorite Roddick (4-6 5-7) who went on to win the title, and at Nottingham he was defeated by 6’10” Croatian, Ivo Karlovic (5-7 4-6). This past summer brought Tursunov two more ATP title championships; Indianapolis during the U.S. Open Series by defeating Canadian Cinderella story Frank Dancevic in straight sets (6-4 7-5) and at the Thailand Open after defeating Benjamin Becker of Germany (6-2, 6-1). Russia is again in the Davis Cup finals, as is the United States, setting the stage for another possible Tursunov – Roddick collision.
Tursunov is part of a new breed of professional tennis players that are competing in a much changed sport thanks to astounding technological advances in racquets and strings. The antithesis to the slighter conservative pros of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, today’s power players must have the athleticism of a basketball player, the endurance of a soccer star and the footwork and control of a prize fighter.
Also, no longer dominated by the U.S., professional tennis has had trouble embracing its global nature, leaving fans in the dark on foreign talent. That’s where Tursunov becomes the proverbial Ace – to the wizardry of Roger Federer and the passion of Rafael Nadal there is the humor of Dmitry Tursunov.
Tursunov’s thoughts on the down-turn in tennis exposure, “I know the press blames it on the players, saying we’re not interesting. But I was watching Rock, Paper, Scissors on ESPN and it’s interesting because of the commentators, they are creating these tense moments, with back up interviews – ‘he’s the best RPS on the planet’ - it’s fun to watch. When you listen to some of the commentators on tennis you don’t get that at all. They need the South American commentators from futbol to be screaming, “Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!…” so people think something is going on here – this isn’t a game of Pong I’m watching.”
Quickly gaining more fame for what he does with a pen than a racquet, the ATP has been smart to capitalize on his buoyant personality. As part of the ATP’s effort to show the pros as three-dimensional they had a player blog during every tournament in 2006. Tursunov’s entry from Estoril, Portugal, quickly became a fan favorite and he has been bestowed the honor of being the official tour blogger. “The Tursunov Tales” appears on the ATP’s website.
What should you expect from a man who (sarcastically) lists knitting, collecting walnut shells and Barbara Streisand as interests on his official bio? Well, in one blog entry last year a fan asked what it felt like to be kissed on the lips by fellow Russian player Igor Andreev after the Davis Cup win, in typical Tursunov fashion, he responded with, “…“Dancing Queen” by ABBA rang in my head. It was so romantic!!! All I heard was, “Dancing quuueeeen…..” and time froze still! Our lips locked, dizziness filled my entire body and I felt like I was floating on air…I could have played another five-setter after that scene…Only seventeeeeen… feel the beat from the tamboooouriiiineeen… Oh yeaaaaah…”
Though Tursunov is surprised by the flood of attention received from his blog, he’s proud to make such a positive contribution to tennis, “When the ATP asked me to blog the first time in Estoril I didn’t really think anything of it, not that I ever do. Most of the players used a voice recorder or a shadow writer but I actually wrote mine – the first to actually write it and the first to talk about anything but tennis, which was more interesting for the fans. It attracted attention from areas that totally didn’t relate to tennis at all. It is my part to do something to promote the game in a different way.”
Also different is how Tursunov ended up in California. It’s common for promising young players to leave Russia for better training opportunities, most notably to the U.S. and Spain. But instead of the usual Academy, he was sent to a friend, Vitaly Gorin, in Los Altos, California, just south of San Francisco. Gorin explains, “My father met Dmitry’s father in St. Petersburg when he was young and needed some sponsorship. When Dmitry was 12 his father asked to bring him here and we ended up keeping him.”
Albeit, with a little culture shock, as Tursunov says, “I really expected a lot of skyscrapers when I was coming to America. That’s all I saw on TV. Then I show up in Los Altos and thought, what the hell is this?” And 12 years later, “Essentially I have two homes, when people ask are you more American or more Russian—I feel at home in both places. It would be like if your parents are divorced and you live with your dad sometime and your mom some of the time, (turning to Gorin) you’re my mom.”
Gorin, who had previously trained at length with Foothill College’s legendary coach Tom Chivington (Brad Gilbert, Larry Stefanki), had been on his way to his own professional tennis career when he discovered a tumor in his left femur at the age of 21. Any chance in tennis had long been forgotten for Gorin by the time his father suggested Tursunov come to the States. The union gave them both a shot at a pro tennis career.
Gorin takes his job of working with children extremely seriously. His mantra, borrowed from the great coach and former pro Nick Saviano, “You can’t screw up an adult’s life by being their tennis coach, but you can ruin a child’s.” His relationship with Tursunov continually changes from coach to surrogate father to friend as needed. The proud coach emerges when discussing Tursunov’s game, “In tennis, the bigger hitters play their own game and the other guy has to figure out how to knock them off their rhythm - there are some players that have to think nothing but – not Dmitry, he just has to concentrate on his own game.”
There is also a serious and articulate side to Tursunov. Despite the comedic antics he’s constantly aware of the situation around him. A description of competing against world number one Roger Federer, “When playing a match against Federer, most people go onto the court a little depressed. There’s so much hype about him – he’s number one and he’s Roger Federer and all of a sudden in your mind there’s this ‘Roger’s number one, he never loses, Roger’s number one, he never loses’…and by the time you go out on the court you sort of feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights or something.” But he’s also quick to explain, “He doesn’t have a “Roger Federer” aura around him in the locker room. He is a grounded, normal guy, probably the most normal out of all the players. He’s human and he makes mistakes but he deals with them much better than most – it’s that little difference that makes a very big difference.”
He’s just as perceptive when discussing his past and present relationship with his family in Moscow. Like many with ‘tennis parents’, Tursunov has had his share of animosity towards his father, which has softened with time, “Up until I was 12 ½, for seven or eight years my father spent all of his time on my tennis. He lived his whole life for my tennis and as much as we fought – which was a lot – I would vow to myself to never forgive him – but now I realize that not too many people can spend so many years of their life devoting themselves to something, whether you did it right or not. He did the best he could.”
The extended Gorin family, which at the time consisted of two additional Russian teenagers and Gorin’s wife Stacey, moved from Los Altos, to Napa before finally settling in Granite Bay, on the eastern edge of the Sacramento Valley, two hours northeast from San Francisco by car. The six year old Academy trains over 30 juniors and consists of a colonial clubhouse that serves as the residence for several players, five courts, a gym, basketball court and swimming pool. Tursunov recently bought the adjoining property which will provide additional residences for students and several more courts – covered for those rainy Northern California winter days. The Academy is also currently home to two other top 100 ATP players; Evgeny Korolev and Igor Kunitsyn.
“We never intended to have all of this. None of this was ever planned.” explains Gorin, motioning with his hand in disbelief as he looks out over the Academy’s sprawling lawns and tennis courts. “It started with just one 12 year old kid, but that’s all it was really meant to be.”
2007
