THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, NO. 43

USopen'03day3

Dmitry Tursunov: a man without a country
Russian stuns Guga; looking for US citizenship

By Richard Osborn
Special to tennisreporters.net

FROM THE US OPEN – For a kid who has just pulled off the biggest win of his young career, 20-year-old Russian Dmitry Tursunov is displaying the even-keeled calm of a seasoned veteran after outlasting No. 14 seed Gustavo Kuerten in nail-biting 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 first-round upset at the US Open. It was the first-ever five-setter for Tursunov, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the US since he was 12.

"My main concern was not to treat it as a match against Kuerten, but to treat it as just another match," says Tursunov, reclining on a massage table following the two-hour, 47-minute stunner. "Whether I won or lost, I was going to get some positives out of it. I kind of talked myself into thinking it was just another match."

Tursunov burst onto the scene in 2001 when he upset Greg Rusedski in Memphis en route to the semis, where he fell to eventual titlist Mark Philippoussis. But an oft-misdiagnosed back injury soon slowed his progress. By Indian Wells, he says he was in so much pain that he couldn't even laugh. By the end of the year, he says he couldn't even walk straight.

FRACTURES BREAK HIS DEVELOPMENT
As a result, Tursunov was sidelined for much of 2002. He says he didn't pick up a racket for one seven-month stretch. CAT scans later revealed two fractures, most likely caused by over-rotation. Few believed he could rebound from such a setback with his booming serve and ferocious forehand intact, Tursunov managed to climb back onto the Challenger circuit, where he has managed to snare a few titles.

"He's a talented player," says super-coach Jose Higueras who has worked on and off with Tursunov and has also coached Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras and works with the USTA. "He's a little temperamental when he's out there, but obviously he's strong. He's got power, which is important."

"I do have a lot of weapons, but they misfire a lot," confessed Tursunov, who is based out of the Gorin Tennis Academy in Granite Bay, Calif., where he was formerly coached by Vitaly Gorin. "I've had the weapons all along, but the problem is trying to figure out how to use them. I knew how to hit the ball, but I didn't know how to play tennis. It's sad, but it's true. Now I've calmed down on the court and I don't go for so many flashy shots. I do what's necessary."

READY TO BECOME AN AMERICAN
In many respects, Tursunov is a man without a country.

"I never really thought of myself as fully Russian or fully American," he says. "I was Russian, but then I left for a year and everyone was calling me an American. When I came back to America, everyone was calling me a Russian. It's a different position to be in."

His father, Igor, taught him the game in his native homeland, but he was all but ignored by the Russian Tennis Federation. Currently awaiting his US citizenship, until recently, he hasn't exactly been hotly pursued by the USTA, either.

"I was frustrated with both federations. When ever you need help, there is no help. Whenever you're doing well, people will offer you help," he confides. "It's like that in anything, not just tennis. In an ideal world, you would have a federation watching over you, pick players up early and lead them along."

Tursunov, who came into the Open ranked No. 174 and has yet to win an ATP title, takes on Dutchman John van Lottum in the second round. Although he was down a break in the fifth against Kuerten, Tursunov says he never lost his focus.

"One thing that Jose told me that has made a big impact on my game is that you can only control what you're doing, not what the other person is doing," said Tursunov, who described himself as coachless. "Whether you have a goal in mind, whether you want to make money or whatever, you have to keep your eyes on what you can control and the rest will come along."

Osborn is an associate editor with Inside Tennis magazine.