Dmitry Tursunov: "I rarely lose my head because of beauty"

Shortly before the start of the 25th anniversary Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup tournament that opened this weekend, HELLO.RU met with the most charismatic and one of the most famous Russian tennis players, Dmitry Tursunov. Tursunov is the winner of 13 ATP Tournaments and the winner of the Davis Cup in the national team. Now the athlete has a difficult period - due to a leg injury, he was forced to miss one competition after another and until the last moment did not know if he could enter the court in Moscow. After the interview and before the start of the tournament at Olimpiyskiy on October 11, Dmitry nevertheless canceled his participation due to injury.

We talked with Dmitry Tursunov about his career plans, hobbies, sense of humor and, of course, about girls. It turned out that he approaches professional issues soberly, and personal ones - with irony.

We are now on the courts of the Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup tournament. Please tell us what this tournament means to you? What is its special value compared to the Grand Slam tournaments?

The Grand Slam, of course, stands apart, these are the four main tournaments, they give 2,000 points for winning. Here, only 250 are given, that is, it is difficult for the Kremlin Cup to compete in importance with the Grand Slam tournaments, the category does not allow. But for the Russians home tournament, and therefore I am especially pleased to speak here. Almost all Russian guys won it, but I haven't yet.

- Are you playing this year or are you withdrawing from the competition due to an injury?

This is still an unresolved issue. On the one hand, I don’t want to miss the tournament, I want to perform, I have already missed a lot after America (we are talking about the US Open Grand Slam tournament - approx. HELLO.RU). I was betting that the break would help me recover and prepare as best as possible, but the question is still open. I don’t want to go out on the court just for the sake of a “tick”, I want to show myself well. But I also cannot question further performances. If I go out completely unprepared, I can worsen the injury.

You once noted in an interview that you would not be very upset if you did not get to the Olympics in Rio in 2016. What does this tournament mean for tennis players in general?

I don’t know if it will work out ... If you have finished playing tennis, then, no matter how much you want it, you will not be able to play in Rio.

As for the significance... Of course, in many sports the Olympics are something like a Grand Slam in tennis, but we have many other tournaments. For a tennis player, victory in Grand Slam will be equivalent to the Olympics. And the problem is that if you do not win the Olympics, then everyone cares if you participated in it. Well, how do you tell your grandchildren that you went to this cult sport's event, but flew out in the first round and did not see how the medals look at all? (laughs).

You somehow sadly said that if you finished playing tennis, then you can no longer strive ... Are you going to do it in the near future?

It’s not that I want to end my career, but I can’t ignore some factors. If you spend all your time on healing sores, and not on performances, then, of course, you need to weigh all the pros and cons. Now, if I don't play, my rating goes down and I don't get into any prestigious tournaments. Playing in tournaments at a lower level, you find yourself at zero or even in the red. It's definitely not about making money.

I love tennis, but there are also disadvantages here: constant traveling, you are never at home, you have to watch when you get up, go to bed, how you eat ... This is a full-time job. And if it all ends up being something you don't know, perform on next game or not, it turns out that you seem to be investing strength and energy, but there is no result and no return. Tennis is like a business: you invested in it, but you don’t know if you will earn or not, there is no guarantee.

I hate to send you into early retirement, but what would you do if you had to quit tennis in the next year, for example?

I will be giving full interviews (laughs). To be honest, I don't know. It is clear that in tennis I always have the opportunity to work as a coach, consultant ... I have been in tennis, one might say, from the age of 3-5: at the age of 3 I picked up a racket, and from the age of 5 I already started training. What I did from 3 to 5, honestly, I don’t remember (laughs). The bottom line is I'm 31 and 26 of them play tennis! This has been my job for 26 years.

But I can try something else. Unfortunately, I have many interests. "Unfortunately" - because when you have many interests, you cannot choose one thing, you always want to try something else. But starting something, you must be ready to devote a certain segment of your life to it, not to quit halfway through.

Dmitry Tursunov spoke about a possible retirement and women's ideals

Tell us at least a couple of your interests in more detail, because there is a lot about tennis on the Internet, about your performances, and there is practically no information about you as a person...

The Internet is really such a bad place... There is what you really said, but there is rubbish and myths. My interests are: I love cars. Until I collect them, I think I still don’t earn that much. I do not want to still collect "vases" and "penny". I like, of course, expensive beautiful cars. I also like tuning - when they take an old car and somehow modify it, cut the roof, change body parts, put in a completely new engine and suspension. This is interesting to me, but now, having hung up the racket, I would not know where to start. It's easier for me to learn to play near the net, let's say, than to understand how I can do it all.

I'm just, unfortunately, a perfectionist, something constantly doesn't suit me. Like in tennis: there are amateur tennis players, but if you compare them with professionals, then it’s not at the same level. I would probably suffer a lot internally if I understood that I was an amateur and before top level I can't grow up. Sometimes you lose interest because you realize you can't be the best at it.

- It says on Instagram that you would like to become a DJ. Is there any truth in this or is it a joke?

In general, I have always been considered something like a clown - not in a bad sense of the word. Allegedly, I just always joke a lot. For example, in my autobiography in the tennis booklet (where everyone is asked to describe their lives), I jokingly wrote that I like to collect walnut shells. Well, what serious can you write there? Whoever you don’t read, everyone says: father’s name is Sasha, mother’s name is Masha, brother plays tennis, he loves music, watching movies and relaxing by the sea - in general, there is nothing interesting. And I decided to dilute it all with such a peculiar joke.

What I write in in social networks, as a rule, refers to some situations. For example, we are constantly asked: "What do you think about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?". I don’t know why it is believed that all tennis players should definitely talk about Nadal and Federer. That's why I wrote in the profile that I'm their crazy fan. Some people understand this, and some don't. It seems to me that I have a specific sense of humor, although it is strange to rate myself.

- Does this image of a clown upset you?

In general, this is not something that makes me wake up at night. Everyone has their own opinion, I don't expect everyone to understand me. They say that even if you are an angel, there is someone who does not like the rustle of your wings.

Everything is changing, and the last few years I'm a little different than I was before. You grow up, get older, and it is very difficult for outsiders to understand who you are in the world and space, receiving information only from some scraps...

I think that if I were to win tournaments now, everyone would be torn, trying to understand who Dima Tursunov is, why he wins, what he breathes and lives. But I don't suffer from lack of attention. As soon as tennis ceases to participate in my life, then gradually the attention will narrow from a wide circle of outsiders to a narrow circle of people who are really interested in me as a person.

- Do you now live more in Moscow or in the USA?

I left America a long time ago, I decided at some point that I wanted to spend more time with my family. My mother is such a person that she cannot even move from the apartment where she now lives to a neighboring house. I decided for myself that I spent too much time abroad because of tennis. I lived there for nine years and during that time I saw my mother for only three weeks. I can't imagine how she got through it. I perfectly understand that at some point it was necessary to repay the same coin - after all, she sacrificed a personal relationship with her own child for the sake of my success in tennis. I decided to do the same for the sake of my relationship with her. I understand that you can’t catch up, but you had to take this step, simply because the worst thing is when you want to do it, but you can’t. Better late than never.

I cannot but ask one more question, because you are always not only in the tennis ratings, but also in the ratings of enviable suitors of our country...

- Tell us what attracts you in girls and how can you attract your attention?

It seems to me that people should understand that artificially attracting attention is possible only for a while. To live constantly with some kind of image, with some kind of facade - it's very difficult. Of course, it's nice when a girl dresses beautifully, but when she takes out the trash with her purse and in heels, for me it's too much. I like comfort. I want to communicate with a person in a relaxed and open way, so that there are no "pens" because of my sense of humor, so that everything is not perceived with hostility.

Yes, beautiful girls a lot, I won’t lie that I don’t look at anyone, it’s not. But there are a lot of beautiful girls who, apart from beauty, have nothing to attract, but they want not only to look at a person, but also to communicate with him ... I won’t say anything new now: I would like the girl to be, as they say, the mistress of the house, and an enviable beauty when you lead her somewhere "into the light." The ideal, of course, does not exist, but women still should not break away from reality: it can be a beautiful flower, but this flower should not require 24-hour care from you, because then it is no longer a joy, but a burden.

I guess a sense of humor is a must for me. I have a peculiar one, because I communicate more with the guys, and everything is clear there. But when you joke with girls, God forbid, it’s not like that, immediately resentment, tears, snot, everything is perceived with hostility. This is very difficult, and I do not want to communicate further.

- I understand with a sense of humor, but as for appearance, do you have a favorite type?

To be completely honest, brunettes are more attractive to me, but this does not mean that I do not see myself in the company of a girl with blond hair. (smiles)

Not the color of the hair is the decisive factor, there must be some kind of chemistry, vibes. I like all sorts of girls, especially some exotic ones, my girlfriend doesn't have to be Russian, I'm interested in different types looks, different cultures. But I rarely lose my head over beauty, because beauty dissolves. After a while, you stop noticing it, you need something else.

- It can be said that at the moment it is big sport become an obstacle in building family relationships? Do you need to wait until your career is over and build a family after?

I’m not ready to say so categorically, but I admit that sport interferes. Women, perhaps, are most often jealous of sports: they are not in the first place, attention is not paid to them, in addition, if, God forbid, there are some fans ... When you perform, it makes you more attractive - and us, and tennis girls have some fans. They sit in the front rows at matches and are often determined to take you away from your girlfriend. Of course, it is not easy to find such a person who has an inner core so strong that he will not bend under this pressure.

Relationships are work, and they affect professional activities. You yourself can imagine - if you have problems in your personal life, you will not write anything! You will not want to go to work, you will be tormented by depression. To juggle all my activities, I need a person nearby who can understand and support when it's hard for you.

I know many guys whose ups and downs depend on their personal life and their psychological state. If they are doing well in life, they can fully devote themselves to their work. But the opposite also happens: to the extent that a person simply cannot play tennis, everything falls out of his hands because of a quarrel with a girl. Some generally end their careers because of this, they can either rise to the top ten or fall out of it - and all just because there are problems in their personal lives.

We are all people, someone is a journalist, someone is a locksmith, someone teaches children, someone plays tennis, someone acts in films. It's just that we, the athletes, are in plain sight, and our ups and downs are talked about and criticized in the press. But after all, they are all also conditioned by something, it is very difficult to analyze everything to the end and understand why a person wins today and not tomorrow.

Russian tennis player Dmitry Tursunov was born in 1982 in Moscow. I picked up a racket for the first time at the age of five. When the boy was twelve, his father insisted that Dmitry Tursunov go to the United States for serious tennis lessons. So the athlete ended up in America, where he lives at the moment. However, Dmitry Tursunov acts as a Russian athlete.

In 2000, despite the injury suffered the day before, the tennis player made his debut at Futures. Having won several victories in these competitions, Dmitry Tursunov decided to try his hand at the Challenger series, where he also won. Over the following years, the tennis player won ten more titles in this series of competitions. A little later, Tursunov made his first appearance at the tournament of the Association of Tennis Professionals, where he managed to become a quarter-finalist.

In 2006, Dmitry Tursunov won the ATP singles tournament, which was held in Mumbai. At matches in Los Angeles, he became a finalist. A year later, the athlete won several more victories at tournaments of this level. 2007 was distinguished for Tursunov and participation in the Kremlin Cup. Speaking in pairs, he managed to win the final and take the title.

started in Moscow tennis tournament Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Shortly before the start of the tournament OK! talked to tennis player Dmitry Tursunov, who, unfortunately, on the eve of the opening, withdrew from the competition due to injury.

Photo: Kirill Zaitsev

Gthey say, you go to an interview with a dictionary.

No, it's a tale. I left for Sacramento at the age of 12 and, of course, after living in America, you forget some words. But you want people to understand you correctly, you try to find the exact expression, and this is not always possible. English is sometimes easier for me to speak than Russian.

Is it fair to say that something more connects you with the capital of California than with the capital of Russia?

I am often told that. People like to categorize everything. You know, like in the library, they rolled ... I forgot this word ...

Catalog?

Yes. ( laughing.) Everyone wants to understand who I am - Russian or American. I watched, for example, how a guy enters a plane flying from the USA to Russia: he looks from under his brows, his hair is combed over his forehead, as Zhenya Kafelnikov used to, in his hands is a bag of whiskey from duty free. And it is clear to everyone that this is Russian. Is there such a stereotype? So, they greet me in English on board. I guess I look different. They also say that your native language is the one in which you dream. I dream in both Russian and English. I think I speak English more, even though I have been in Russia more often for the last three or four years. But in my heart I feel Russian.

Is moving to another country at the age of 12 difficult psychologically?

Many acquaintances will agree that not everything is at home with me, but I am inclined to believe that everything in my life turned out right. Any experience is good for us. I think that difficulties allow us to learn everything in comparison, you begin to appreciate things that, perhaps, in a different situation, you would not pay attention to. I like how it turned out. In addition, I am sure that my life is not the most difficult, for many it develops much worse.

When sending you to America, did your parents ask for your opinion?

The emphasis was on what would be best for my development in tennis. First, my dad went with me to the USA, he looked to see if everything suits him. A month later he left, and I stayed.

Why did your father want to make you a tennis player so much?

I myself have no idea why this sport is so sunk into his soul.

Usually parents realize in the child what they themselves did not succeed.

I think it was. When dad was growing up, tennis, in fact, did not exist in Russia. More precisely, this sport was considered feminine and, moreover, bourgeois. My coach's father, who once emigrated from Kyiv to the United States, recalled how in his youth he hid a racket so that his friends would not find out that he was playing tennis. We still have everything sorted in this regard. It is generally accepted that real men play hockey. Football is a more popular sport. You don't need much for him: he put two tin cans - here's the gate for you, took the ball and kick yourself. Maybe that's why football took root more than tennis. My father had a court at the Kurchatov Institute, where he played tennis with his friends. I don’t know why my father liked this sport so much, but my fate was sealed long before I was born.

How did your older brother escape the fate of becoming a tennis player?

At first, my father really worked with Denis. When dad and brother went to training, then I, a little one, ran after them. So, at least, my parents told me - I myself doubt that at the age of three I deliberately rushed to the court. Later, my father switched from his brother to me, began to work with me more. Maybe I had a greater predisposition than my brother - I don't know. Denis then went to a regular school, entered a technical school.

What has he become?

He helped his father train children and is now doing this with novice athletes. My father took care of me from morning to evening. My day began with exercises, then breakfast: grated carrots, cottage cheese ... I have never seen so much perseverance in anyone as in my father, and even in relation not to my own career, but to someone else's. Of course, dad lived this life through me. I can’t say how my father lived after my departure to the USA: for the next nine years I occasionally spoke with him on the phone, and I saw him for a total of five weeks - he came three times. Mom - once, for three weeks. I remember she came when I was sixteen. I was already dating a girl then. Although “met” is a loud word, walked by the hand. And then my mother flew in, they had to bring her to the apartment where I was waiting. I open the door - my mother is standing. I understand that it is her, and she understands that it is me, but we hardly recognize each other. Mom then, it seems, could not get used to this new reality. She still remembered how she carried me in her arms, and here I am already quite an adult, in another country ... As for my father, I know for sure that after my departure he became calmer. Before that, all our conversations with him were reduced to tennis. Father could ask "How are you?" and then: “How are you doing with the right hand?” It infuriated me, I wanted to talk about other topics, but over time we all calmed down.

Still, how much your father needed to love tennis in order to sacrifice his son to this sport.

Many argue this way: here, they say, crazy Russian parents cripple the lives of children for the sake of their own vanity. It's easy to look at it from that angle. I think my father wanted me to take place as a person, all his efforts were directed to this. If he knew how best to do it, he would have done it. But no one has a "How to do it" textbook. However, thanks to his diligence, he succeeded. Yes, we had huge relationship problems, I think, like all people. My father decided to sacrifice my childhood: I did not walk in the yard, I did not smoke. Maybe this is wrong, but who's to say what is right?

In general, this is a fairly common story in sports, when parents decide the fate of a child: it was the same with Marat Safin, Andre Agassi ...

Of course, in an ideal world, this should not be the case. But we don't live in an ideal world. Agree, if the parents had not pushed the child and let him decide what to do on his own, then I doubt that the children would have rushed to the court. They would eat sweets and play consoles all day long. But forcing a child to do something is wrong. We need to get to it smoothly. Force without forcing. I remember how I was hysterical, I didn’t want to do anything, I was lazy ...

Did you have any hobbies as a child that competed with tennis, but for the sake of this sport they had to be put aside?

There were no competitive ones. I did not go skiing - more precisely, a little, cross-country skiing. Didn't play football. A year before leaving for America, they bought me a bicycle, three-speed, - I rode it.

And besides sports?

I was interested in cars. Mom bought me an Auto Review, I cut out the pictures and pasted them into a notebook. He collected stamps. The designer collected But nothing could outweigh tennis. But I knew exactly what would happen in my life tomorrow. I knew there would be tennis tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow there will be tennis. And then there will be tennis again. When asked what I want to become, I answered without hesitation:

"Tennis Player" Because I knew there was no other option.

What do you think the concept of "sports talent" means, if there is such a thing?

Of course, first of all it is a set physical qualities. You won't be able to play basketball if you're a meter tall with a cap on. A two-meter girl is unlikely to take root in rhythmic gymnastics. Tennis requires a combination of qualities. Including psychological ones. I'm sure psychology is also important in more athletic sports like swimming, but not to the same extent as in tennis. Here you can go through difficult periods in your career very hard. You need to be friends with the head in order to survive. I communicate with tennis players and notice that among us there are many people with obsessive habits. Someone needs to fold their shirts several times before the match so that everything is fine. Maybe you noticed that during the game Masha Sharapova tries not to step on the dividing lines of the court. Everyone has their own rituals and pens. The psychological component requires a special approach in the preparation of a tennis player, although, as a rule, little attention is paid to it.

Has your attitude towards tennis changed over time? Does sport disappoint you or, on the contrary, cause even more respect?

In general, tennis is a good sport. Not as traumatic as, say, boxing. But heavy. You need to be able to focus. Get ready.

From a philistine point of view, tennis strikes with career instability: today you are the first in the ATP ranking, tomorrow the 20th, the day after tomorrow already in the second hundred ...

Well, it's easy to climb the rankings, it's harder to stay. You get up, and they start breathing down your back, they want to beat you. You need to constantly break away, improve in order to remain the first. When Novak Djokovic changed his diet, everyone began to pay attention to what tennis players eat. Previously, they also converted, but as soon as Djokovic said that he was now on a gluten-free diet, everyone rushed to do the same. When Andy Murray said he was doing hot yoga many followed his example. In addition, the leader has to experience enormous pressure: expectations are always warmed up for him. That is why many athletes go to tournaments accompanied by the whole team where everyone is responsible for a specific case. There is a coach who can sign you up for training while you are giving an interview, there is a physical training coach who will work with you at any time. There is a massage therapist who will allow you to recover faster from an injury.

After all, you had injuries - though not all of them were received on the court?

Basically, I have all sports injuries, with the exception of one or two.

Where did you break your left leg?

She's just on the court. I also had two cracks in my vertebrae. One - I do not know where, and the second I earned while riding a boat. We were swimming, one person was leading, and I was sitting with my back to the movement and watching the guy we were pulling on water skis. I had to raise the flag in case it fell. At some point, our boat ran into a wave, jumped and landed hard. I felt pain in my back - and so a microcrack appeared, the treatment of which was very painful.

You talked about life in Russia and the USA. Do you care where to play? Or a court, is it a court in Africa too?

The court itself - yes. But in tournaments you feel differently. For example, it's hard to play in the Davis Cup. You worry, expectations are warmed up - in general, there is a lot of psychology here.

Is it different in this regard at the tournament called “Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup”?

In Moscow, they start tearing you apart. Familiar, unfamiliar - everyone wants to talk. Ask for a ticket to the tournament.

What, are you handing out tickets?

Constantly, but even if I had all the tickets for the tournament in my hands, it would still not be enough for everyone. But the bottom line is that you have a limited amount of time that you can spend on communicating with people, but you cannot spend all your time and all your energy on it. Of course, I can’t say that I lost because they came to me for tickets, no, it’s just that attention is scattered, there is a lot of fuss.

Do you associate the Kremlin Cup with success or failure more?

For some reason, I always have that semi-final in 2005 in front of my eyes, when I lost to Igor Andreev. This is probably my most best result V singles at the Kremlin Cup. Almost everyone from our "old guard" won it, with the exception of Marat Safin and me. Therefore, I want to win, but I wind myself up, which is why I don’t play at the level I could.

Which fight characterizes you best?

I think the match with Andy Roddick, when I led in sets, then lost two to Roddick, then in a tense fight won in a tie-break. This is my favorite move - to fight with myself, to create problems for myself from scratch. This quality is inherent in me: I make decisions hard, I think everything over for a long time, I consider it from different angles. While everything is solved much easier. There are people who judge: either white or black. I can't help but notice the shades. It really hinders me in tennis, and in life too. But since I don’t get rid of this quality, it means that subconsciously I like such introspection.

Is dissatisfaction with yourself a motivation for development?

Certainly. If you understand that something is bothering you, you need to improve yourself. If excess weight prevents you from winning, then you need to understand what is more important - to eat sweets or win matches. It is the same in personal relationships: if your habits interfere with them, then you need to get rid of these habits. Well, or from these relationships.

Have you ever had personal relationships get in the way of tennis?

They interfere with everything. They take away a lot of emotional energy, especially if they do not proceed in the right direction. When there is a person nearby who understands you, supports you, believes in you more than you yourself, this is a rare occurrence.

Do you think it is difficult to build a relationship that will not interfere with tennis?

Some succeed. Most, of course, don't. The second half should have the same goals as you. And that rarely happens. Roughly speaking, if I met an actress, then she needs to tour, on stage and in the cinema, constantly hugging, kissing, disappearing late at events. In such a situation, you should push your interests to the background and think what is best for her. This is hard to come by. Or these two people must be experienced and adjust their communication. I think that I also made mistakes in my first relationships that I did not repeat in the next.

You said that you dated a girl when you were 16. And it did not distract from sports?

It did not distract me, because I did not disappear at night, I lived in the American village and, in general, one might say, led a monastic lifestyle. It's not like in Moscow: at 16 you can get lost and wake up at 35 with a planted liver.

So you weren't allowed to date girls?

It was all possible. But you have to understand that you can't call my life glamorous. It's not like in some other sports: models are spinning around the athletes, everyone is throwing money away ... Of course, all this exists, but there is no need to exaggerate. In addition, such a lifestyle interferes with some, while others, on the contrary, like it, a person wants more attention, and this spurs him to develop faster.

Last year, you planned a wedding with jeweler Adele Bakhtiyarova. I see how this story ended: you don’t have a ring on your hand ..

I don't have a ring. And she's not wearing a ring. In general, all without rings, because at one moment I realized that ...

… tennis is more expensive?

No, the psyche is more expensive.

Even so?

Well, I thought we'd better take a break from all this. How it will end - God knows what.

So your relationship continues?

Do not continue, but never say "never": no one knows how things will go on. Let's say, in my youth, I had completely different ideas about where I would be at the current age.

And where did you see yourself?

For example, as a teenager, I thought that in 2000 I would play professionally, because they told me: if at 18 you didn’t succeed as professional tennis player then it's too late. In 2000, I turned 18, and by the end of the year I should have been in the ATP "weave", but this did not happen.

Do you understand why?

There were many reasons. Life didn't turn out the way I expected.

Did you get married then?

(Smiling.) I know they wrote about it, but I didn't get married. I had a serious relationship, but in the end they did not end with anything like that.

Was that one of the factors that contributed to the slowdown in your tennis career?

Not at all. There were no such problems. It just faded and slowly faded away. Although I was very worried, and the girl. She, I think, was even more worried, but all this speaks of how unpredictable life is. You can count on one thing, and then meet someone on the street, fall in love, and everything will go topsy-turvy.

Do you allow this at a conscious age?

Listen, everything happens, you can't control it. The only thing that can be controlled is your reaction to what is happening. The rest is not. I can plan for years ahead, and tomorrow a stone will fall on my head, and that's it, my plans will be empty. Now I can say for sure: both in my career and in life, I have become calmer, but, of course, I am worried about what will happen in a year or two. Will I play or not? If I don't, what will I do then?

And what?

Of course, there are some plans.

Business?

With pleasure. Rather, it will be connected with tennis: I still understand it more than anything else. Becoming a coach is unlikely. I like to help the young, but doing it eight hours a day, continuing the same nomadic lifestyle that I lead now - no way. However, maybe in a couple of years I will just want the opposite? In any case, I am afraid to imagine how my 70-year-old grandchildren will ask me: “Grandfather, what did you do?” - "And I, granddaughters, stood on the court all my life."

After the match with Andy Roddick, he could barely stand on his feet. When the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin approached him with congratulations, Dmitry TURSUNOV even reeled from fatigue. And our fans, admiring the character of the unbending tennis player, gave him a standing ovation.

Sergei Yastrebov

The Russian national team defeated the Americans for the first time in the Davis Cup match. The hero of the semi-final thriller was not Safin and not Yuzhny (although they also won one victory each), but yesterday's substitute - Tursunov.

- Dmitry, after the victory over Roddick, you did not appear at the press conference for a very long time. An hour and a half late. Did you feel bad? - Why? I screamed for joy. But at the same time lay on the massage table. And it was difficult to get up and go upstairs to the press center. At some point, I even fell asleep.

Curiously, how did you feel when in the fifth, decisive set, Roddick took the lead 6:5 and went out to serve? His delivery is killer. - I was hoping that I would dodge (laughs). But seriously, annoyance took. I won the first two sets, and in the third I made a fool of myself. And when it came to the fifth set, my head was spinning all the time: well, how can it be, I could rest for a long time, smoke bamboo, and now I have to play around! Andy turned out to be a very stubborn guy. With a score of 12:11, I earned a double match-point (Tursunov could win the match with one blow twice in a row. - S.Ya.), but the American did not give up, he turned out like a snake. I saw his eyes - there was so much anger in them. The last games I played were semi-automatic. - What if they lost?- Yes, how could I lose? Marat Safin said to me on Sunday morning: “Listen, Dim, I don’t want to play with Blake, you really try to kill Roddick so that I can rest.” That's what I tried. By the way, Marat still had to play with Blake, although the Russian team won ahead of schedule. Tarpishchev, to celebrate, let Safin go home, he got into the car and left. Kolya Davydenko was preparing to enter the court against Blake, but for some reason Patrick McEnroe, the captain of the US team, protested. He shouted, they say, what Davydenko, Safin is recorded in the protocol, so let Safin come out! As far as I understood, Shamil Anvyarovich decided not to escalate passions and called Marat on his mobile. Safin then told me that he didn’t even have time to warm up. Here he gave up. But that didn't solve anything. - Tell me honestly, did Davydenko really lie with a temperature? The Americans argued otherwise.- After two flights - from America to China and from Beijing to Moscow - Kolya felt unwell. They tried to bring him back to normal with the help of a pressure chamber. I did not measure his temperature, but since Tarpishchev says that it was high, then it was so. To be honest, I thought that Davydenko would play with Roddick on Sunday. The most interesting thing is that Roddick thought so too! But that's his problem.

- It turns out that Tarpischev tricked the Americans around his finger?- I did not say that. But our captain, of course, proved to be a more sophisticated coach than McEnroe.

Meeting at the restaurant

Tursunov has been living in the USA since the age of 12. There Dima took tennis lessons from the Russian coach Vitaly Gorin. They were paid by Tursunov's parents, who continued to live in Russia. According to Dmitry, in childhood he had a very difficult relationship with his father, they rarely understood each other.

- You did not want to return to Moscow? Did you miss home?- What are you, I really liked California - the ocean, the sun, palm trees! No one watched when I went to bed, what I eat and what I drink. Freedom! My father met a family of Russian emigrants who had settled in America long ago. The head of the family is businessman Michael Gorin, and his son Vitaly worked as a tennis coach. We practiced there on public courts, completely free of charge, but in Moscow you had to pay a lot of money for the courts. I went to the US for a month on a visitor visa. If I had come back, I would not have been given a new visa. Therefore, with the consent of my parents, I stayed in California and went to an American school. The Russian language gradually began to be forgotten, but I read Shakespeare in the original. - Who do you consider yourself - Russian or American?- Fifty-fifty. After all, after leaving for the United States, I have not been to Russia for nine years. Probably a lot has changed now. But I still remember how, on the courts of the Druzhba Sports Palace, some schoolgirl, from about the third grade, was kicked by her dad. I have not seen this in America. - Is it true that as a child you were engaged in Spartak in the same group with Mikhail Youzhny?- Is it true. You see, we both got into the national team, only from different parts of the world. - Your wife, they say, does not live with you. What's happened?- Nothing. Three months after the wedding, she left for Italy, for Milan. I decided to become a designer. When I met Christina, she was working as a waitress in a restaurant. Also a normal profession, but Christina is a creative, developing nature. She wanted something new.

- Don't they teach designers in California? I asked her exactly the same question. But she replied: “You travel abroad, why can’t I?” That is how we live. Sometimes we meet. - You have an original family.- Yeah. But I was very pleased with her call after the victory over the US team. So, I haven't forgotten my husband yet.

BY THE WAY

Before the Wimbledon tournament, Dmitry Tursunov had several joint training sessions with ... Andy Roddick. The American simply considered Tursunov a suitable sparring partner. Now Roddick probably regrets what he did.

REFERENCE

* Dmitry TURSUNOV was born on December 12, 1983 in Moscow. * Has been playing tennis since the age of five. Lives in Roseville (USA, California). * He has been playing for the Russian national team since September 2005. * Married. He drives a Toyota Selick. * Place in the world ranking - 24th (as of September 28, 2006).