There are athletes who have become idols thanks to high results that have not been surpassed by anyone, and there are those who have earned respect for their devotion to the chosen path. One of the brightest representatives of genuine sports fans is Dmitry Tursunov, a tennis player who has survived serious injuries, including spinal fractures, but remains in service for about twenty-eight years. Since the age of five, for the first time in his life, he picked up a racket.
First steps in sports
In the Moscow family of Igor and Svetlana Tursunov, two sons grew up - Denis and Dmitry, born in 1982. Father dreamed of introducing them to the sport, which he had worshiped all his life, having nothing to do with him. The older Denis did not work out on the court, so he turned his attention to the younger, dreaming of making him a big tennis star. At the age of twelve, he took his son to Sacramento, USA, where he assigned Vitaly Gorin to a tennis school. He returned to Moscow, and Dmitry Tursunov said goodbye to his homeland for a long nine years, having mastered perfectly the English language and half feeling himself an American.
At the beginning of his tennis career in the 2000s, he was chased by injuries, but this did not prevent him from becoming an ATP professional, having won his first tournament in Dallas in 2001. Then there were Mandeville, Waikoloa, Kolding. The “life on the tour” began - traveling through competitions at various levels, where all the knowledge about the countries is the characteristics of the court, locker rooms and showers.
Best career achievements
It was 2006 that became the year when a star named Dmitry Tursunov rose in the tennis horizon of Russia, whose biography was closely intertwined with his historical homeland. As part of the national team, he participated in the Davis Cup, playing in the final against American Andy Roddick. It was his victory that became decisive in the overall success of the team, for which he received personal thanks from the most eminent audience - Boris Yeltsin. A year later, with the Russian team, he will become the owner of the Hopman Cup.
In October 2006, Dmitry Tursunov entered the top 20 of the ATP rating, which was his best achievement in his career. Today he has 14 titles in tournaments of the Masters series. Seven of them are earned in singles, seven in doubles. The best results in the main tennis competitions are associated with Wimbledon, where twice he managed to get through to the fourth round. After a defeat at the US Open and a serious injury in 2014, the athlete disappeared from view for a year, dropping to the 496th line in the ranking, which made it difficult for him to return to the main competitions. In 2015, Dmitry Tursunov triumphantly won the Kremlin Cup in doubles with Andrei Rublev, proving that the path to great achievements is never easy.
Whole life in sports
Despite being eliminated due to an injury in the first round of the BS tournament in Australia, where he was opposed by Stan Wawrinka, in January 2016, a thirty-three-year-old athlete did not report the end of his sports career. As in his youth, he participates in challengers to improve his tournament position. He actively communicates with the press and maintains an interesting blog on the ATP website. Thinking about his future, he is absolutely sure that it will be connected with tennis.
In addition to blogging, Dmitry Tursunov is already participating in organizing a number of tournaments for children in St. Petersburg: “Winter Cup”, “Autumn Cup”, “Tennis - Stars” - not only financially investing in the development of children's sports, but also conducting master- classes. Perhaps these are the first steps towards future coaching. In 2015, the Winter Cup was held for the fifth time, gathering the best players under 12 years old from all regions of Russia.
Dmitry Tursunov: personal life
The athlete first married in his early youth an American with whom he divorced in 2006. The couple lived separately: Christina, three months after the wedding, left for Italy to do business in the field of design. Lack of shared interests and infrequent meetings destroyed the relationship. Despite the cheerful disposition and almost antique appearance, the tall golden-haired handsome Dmitry is still a bachelor.
In 2013, Tatler magazine published his photos with his bride Adele Bakhtiyarova, who lives in Dubai, where they met during the tournament in 2008. But a long relationship did not lead to the creation of a family. Adela is engaged in the jewelry business, and Dmitry is still not ready to give up his main love of life - to tennis.