Tursunov's time to shine

May 2009 | by Jack Wilson

tursunov last played in march before the french openIn exhilarating Dmitry Tursunov, the 2009 AEGON International organisers have got a more than able replacement for exuberant shot-maker (and shamed) French star Richard Gasquet.

Grass court ace Tursunov progressed to at least the third round in his past five Wimbledon appearances, with notable scalps over ex-world no1 Marat Safin, great British favourite Tim Henman and fellow Eastbourne entrant Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

The American-based Russian is renowned for his booming first serves and aggressive stroke-making. And with an ability to hit clean winners from both forehand and backhand sides, he is certainly a dangerous player to meet regardless of the surface. 

Yet going into the 2009 French Open he has not played since March's 'fifth grand slam' of the Sony Ericsson Open at Miami, where he suffered a third round exit at the hands of American Andy Roddick.

But it is on grass where Tursunov has enjoyed most of his grand slam successes. Fourth round appearances at SW19 in 2006 and 2007 rank among his career highs, a fact made even more remarkable considering he is not all together accustomed with life on the green stuff.

“I'm certainly not a natural grass court player and I wouldn't say I feel comfortable on grass,” Tursunov admits. “But I'm doing well on it, so I kind of came to like it. I like to play on grass because I have good results, but I still feel more comfortable on hard courts."

tursunov practisesTursunov’s affection for hard courts will come as little surprise as the faster surface boosts the 26-year-old’s aggressive style, which is proved by the fact that he has won all five ATP Tour titles coming on hard courts. Tursunov beat Chris Guccione (in Sydney) and Paul Henri-Mathieu (in Metz) to claim titles, but the wins were even more impressive considering that his opponents were both playing on home soil and greatly supported by fans.

However, the Russian is without a tournament triumph so far in 2009 although is confident that grass could be the surface to which he can break his duck. Should he do so, then it will be the fourth year in succession that he has captured a ATP Tour title.

“I think that I'm able to hit more winners because the surface allows you to do that,” Tursunov explained about grass. “It’s a comfortable place for me when I can hit a winner off a first or second shot.”

Just outside the world's top 20 going into the 2009 French Open, Tursunov is likely to be among the top four seeds at Eastbourne. And with such a solid Wimbledon pedigree to his credit, he has an excellent chance to emulate the shock success of Agnieszka Rawanska and lift the crown at Devonshire Park as the people's favourite.

I like to play on grass because I have good results. I'm able to hit more winners because the surface allows you.

- Dmitry Tursunov