Dmitry Tursunov

 ( 1982 Births ) 

I practiced a few hours a day. My dad realized fairly early that I had a lot of potential. A lot of people criticize him for basically choosing that career for me. He understood that I didn’t have many options to make money and since he really liked tennis, he decided that I was to be a tennis player. It just happened that I was naturally good at it.

In 2001, Tursunov won the Futures event in Boca Raton over Jeff Morrison, then the Dallas Challenger defeating Justin Bower. After these two lower-level tournament successes, Tursunov qualified for his first ATP event in 2001 Kroger St. Jude International and made the quarterfinals, earning his first top-100 win over then world No. 51, Greg Rusedski along the way, before losing to eventual champion Mark Philippoussis. He continued playing on the Challenger circuit, reaching three quarterfinals, but his form suffered after his impact in Memphis because of what doctors believed was a bulging disk in his back. He returned after two months away, and then suffered a stress fracture in his leg. Tursunov was forced to miss six months and did not come back to tennis until June 2002, That year, he won another title on the United States Futures circuit and reached a Challenger semifinal and two quarterfinals.

Tursunov started the season of 2004 losing in the first rounds of Chennai Open and Australian Open, but won Waikoloa Challenger over Alejandro Falla. He then reached the quarterfinals of the Cellular South Cup losing to Mardy Fish. He then played in his first Masters event but lost in the first rounds of Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. He then reached the quarterfinals of U.S. Clay Court Championships losing to eventual champion Tommy Haas. He then lost in the first round in his next three ATP Tour in the Torneo Godó, French Open, and Queen's Club. However, he rebounded in the Wimbledon Championships upsetting 19th seed and compatriot Marat Safin in the first round and eventually fell to ninth seed Carlos Moyá in the third round. At the TD Waterhouse Cup, he was able to reach his first ATP Tour semifinals retiring against Lleyton Hewitt. After the US Open loss to Fabrice Santoro in the second round, Tursunov was forced out of tennis again for seven months with a broken vertebra suffered in a boating accident.

He came back at the 2005 Indian Wells Masters tournament losing to Agustín Calleri. In his next tournaments, he reached the second rounds of French Open and Queen's Club, and the first round of the Nottingham Open. At Wimbledon, Tursunov achieved his best ever performance in a Grand Slam tournament by making the fourth round. In his second-round match against then world No. 9, Tim Henman, he had to play in a Wimbledon club shirt as two of his shirts were stolen from the locker room before the match. He eventually defeated the local hope in five sets, earning his first top-ten win of his career. He eventually lost in the fourth round to Sébastien Grosjean.

He then reached the second rounds of RCA Championships and Los Angeles Open, the first rounds of Cincinnati Masters and Pilot Pen Tennis and reached also the second round of his next four tournaments including the US Open. At the Kremlin Cup, he was able to reach the semifinals losing to compatriot Igor Andreev. He then won the Challenger event in Kolding, Denmark defeating Steve Darcis. In his last tournament of the year, he reached the third round of the Paris Masters losing to Nikolay Davydenko.

He then went 1–6 in his next six events only earning a victory over Gastão Elias at the Estoril Open. At the French Open, Tursunov lost to David Nalbandian after having a 2–0 set lead in the third round. He then reached the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club Championships losing to local hero Tim Henman and the first round of Nottingham Open losing to another local hero Andy Murray. He defeated then world No. 4, Ivan Ljubičić, in the third round of Wimbledon coming back from two sets to love, before losing in the next round. After losing his serve in the fifth set to give Nieminen an 8–7 lead, he hit a ball at the chair umpire's chair. He was given a point penalty and later fined £4,000 ($7,500) for "unsportsmanlike conduct". He called the chair umpire, Fergus Murphy, an "idiot" in the news conference he had after the match. Tursunov punished over outburst, bbc.co.uk; accessed 31 May 2014.

He then reached his first ATP final at the LA Tennis Open losing to Tommy Haas and followed it up with a semifinal performance at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic losing to Andy Murray. He then fell in the third rounds of Rogers Cup and US Open, and the second rounds of Cincinnati Masters and BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy. Additionally, he lost to Dennis Novikov at the 2016 Sarasota Challenger while Novikov was experimenting with a new Yonex frame. He then won his first career title at the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open defeating Tommy Robredo in the semifinals and Tomáš Berdych in the final. He then lost four consecutive matches in the third round of Japan Open Tennis Championships and the first rounds of Kremlin Cup, Madrid Masters and St. Petersburg Open. He then reached the third round of Paris Masters losing to eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko. At the end of the year, he won a Challenger event in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine defeating Benjamin Becker in the final.

On 6 January 2007, Tursunov won the Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia, while representing Russia alongside Nadia Petrova. In the final, Tursunov defeated Tommy Robredo in straight sets, after teammate Petrova's victory over Anabel Medina Garrigues. Following this match was a pro set mixed doubles between Russians Tursunov and Nadia Petrova and Spaniards Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues. This match was a clear show of the playful nature of Tursunov and the other players. The match was relaxed since the outcome of the mixed-doubles pro set match did not matter. At one stage, Anabel Medina Garrigues switched with Tursunov so that Tursunov and Robredo were on one side, while Medina Garrigues and Petrova were on the other. The umpire assigned points to Spain regardless.

At the Australian Open, he reached the third round, losing to Tomáš Berdych. He lost in the first round of his next four ATP Tour tournaments. He then fell in the second rounds of Estoril Open and Internazionali d'Italia, and the first round of the Hamburg Masters. At the French Open he fell to Fernando Verdasco. During the grass-court season he reached the semifinals of Queen's Club Championships and Nottingham Open to big servers Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlović. At Wimbledon, Tursunov was beaten in four sets in the third round by Tommy Haas. Ironically, Haas was unable to go on and play his next game against Roger Federer due to an abdominal injury.

In Indianapolis, Tursunov won his second career title, defeating surprise finalist Frank Dancevic. He then lost three consecutive matches at the Masters event of the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open. Tursunov then rebounded by winning his second title of the year at the Thailand Open, dominating Benjamin Becker. He then reached the third round of the Japan Open losing to Feliciano López. He then lost early in Kremlin Cup and Madrid Masters. At the St. Petersburg Open, he fell in the quarterfinals to Andy Murray. At the Paris Masters, he lost to Mardy Fish. As the defending champion, Tursunov lost in the final of the Challenger in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine to Mischa Zverev.

Tursunov lost in the first round of Rotterdam to Rafael Nadal, but combined with Tomáš Berdych to win the doubles title, defeating Mikhail Youzhny and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final. This was his second doubles career title. In the Dubai Championships, he fell to Richard Gasquet. At the Indian Wells Open, he fell to Juan Ignacio Chela. At the Miami Open, he defeated Richard Gasquet in their third encounter of the year in the second round, but lost in the fourth round to Tomáš Berdych. In Monte-Carlo, he lost to Igor Andreev. At the Barcelona Open, he reached the quarterfinals losing to German Denis Gremelmayr. He lost two consecutive first-round appearances at the Rome Masters and the Hamburg Masters. At Roland Garros, Tursunov won his first two matches against Daniel Brands and Guillermo García López, and then lost to Jérémy Chardy in straight sets. However, Tursunov paired up with Igor Kunitsyn in the men's doubles event. They reached the semifinals, losing to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. This performance lifted Tursunov to a career-high doubles ranking of No. 36.

In Nottingham, Tursunov walked off the court when losing by a set and a break in a first-round doubles match after disagreeing with a line call. The next morning, the ATP announced that he had been thrown out of the tournament because of his actions. This included the singles tournament, handing second round opponent Thomas Johansson a walkover into the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Tursunov beat Nicolas Mahut and Chris Eaton, but lost to Janko Tipsarević in the third round. At the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, Tursunov upset top seed James Blake to make it to the final. He was unable to defend his title, losing to Gilles Simon in the championship match. At the Rogers Cup, Tursunov lost in the third round to Blake. He lost to eventual champion Andy Murray, also in the third round, at the Cincinnati Masters, after earning his third victory of the year over Richard Gasquet. Tursunov represented Russia for the first time at the Beijing Olympics. He lost in the first round to top seed Roger Federer. At the US Open, Tursunov reached the third round by beating Eduardo Schwank and Victor Hănescu, before losing to compatriot Nikolay Davydenko.

Tursunov celebrated his fifth ATP title win at the Open de Moselle in Metz, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final. He then suffered three consecutive losses at the Kremlin Cup, Madrid Masters, and St. Petersburg Open. At the Indian Wells Masters, he retired in his second-round match against Novak Djokovic. He then won a Challenger event in Helsinki in his last tournament of the year.

The Russian began 2009 by losing his first three matches at the Qatar Open, Sydney International, and Australian Open. He then qualified for the Zagreb Indoors, but lost to Ernests Gulbis. He then fell in the second round of Rotterdam, Marseille, and Dubai, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Feliciano López, and Igor Andreev, respectively. He then lost in the third rounds of the Indian Wells to Rafael Nadal and Miami to Andy Roddick.

He came back at the French Open, losing in the first round to Arnaud Clément. On grass, he reached the second round of the Gerry Weber Open, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber, and won the Eastbourne International, defeating Canadian Frank Dancevic in the final, his first grass-court title. He then retired in his first-round match in Wimbledon against Mischa Zverev due to an ankle injury. He reached the quarterfinals Indianapolis Tennis Championships, losing to Frank Dancevic. He then lost four consecutive matches at the LA Tennis Open, the Washington Open, the Rogers Cup, and the US Open.

In Russia as a wild card, he fell in the first round of the Kremlin Cup and reached the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open, losing to compatriot Mikhail Youzhny. He then retired in his first-round match at the Valencia Open 500 against Pablo Andújar due to a left calf injury.

Tursunov began 2011 by losing in the qualifying draw of the Brisbane International to Peter Luczak and the first round of the Australian Open to Victor Troicki. He then competed in the Singapore ATP Challenger as a wildcard, which he won. In Rotterdam, Tursunov was able to qualify and beat Andrey Golubev in the first round, before losing to fourth seed Tomáš Berdych.

At the Marseille Open, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in three tight sets. He then defeated Ivan Ljubičić and then-world No. 10 Jürgen Melzer, his first victory over a top-ten player in over two and a half years. He then lost to top seed Robin Söderling in the semifinals. In the Dubai Championships, he fell to Marcel Granollers. He then competed on the Challenger Tour, winning the GB Pro-Series Bath. He reached the finals of the Athens Open, a Challenger event, but withdrew due to a knee problem. He then fell in the qualifying draw of the BMW Open and the first round of the French Open. On grass, he played at the Challenger Nottingham Trophy falling to Matthias Bachinger. At the Birmingham Championships, he fell in the first round to Feliciano López in straight sets. At his final Wimbledon warm-up, the Rosmalen Open, he had wins over Robert Kendrick, Nicolas Mahut, Santiago Giraldo, and third seed Xavier Malisse in the semifinals. He then faced fourth seed Ivan Dodig in the final and won his seventh ATP title.

Tursunov retired from playing on the professional Tour on 28 August 2017 following his first round loss to Cameron Norrie at the US Open because of another injury.