He always laughs about his lack of success on clay.
He won his first match on that surface for 2006 in Estoril against the 15 year old whizz kid Gastao Elias and thought it to be really funny.
"It happened!!! They told me, “Just keep pluggin’ along and you will win a match!!!” and it happened! Of course the kid was 15 but c’mon! I’m blond! We all have our excuses… I don’t care what anyone says. I matched my best clay court season record so from now on it can only get better!"
Fantastic news about Tursunov, I've really missed his blog since Estoril, no one else has come close to matching it. Only Nadal's RG blog had more hits but Nadal was blogging for two weeks, he won the tournament and he has a fan base that seems to consist of most of the female under 20s on this planet.
These two email replies are my favourites:
6. Lauren Michelle, Louisville, KY USA Hi Dmitry! I just wanted to say that I am so excited that you are going to blog again for us fans. I had such a great time reading the first one, even though I got some weird looks from the family when I would burst out laughing while at the computer. My question is what are the weirdest things that fans have ever said or done for you? I hope you have some good stories! Lauren.
Well Lauren, instead of answering your question and playing “broken phone” I will just copy a couple of questions that I received. Apparently a gentleman from England is in fact, mailing me from an alternative reality, while Matt from Stetson University is doing a study on relation of “Too much time on your hands vs. Easy access to internet.”
Brian O’Brien, London, England Dear Mr. Tursunov, do you know what time it is here? I must be ill or perhaps I'm living in an alternative reality....like tour players. Do you think it's a good idea to have a racket in each hand? Backhands could be deleted, you and Roddick would be unbeatable, and Federer and Nadal and Gonzales and...never mind.
Matt Fitzgerald, Stetson University, United States Are you a killer ping pong player?
Thanks guys!!!
7. Vassili van der Mersch, Brussels, Belgium Hey Dmitry, I'm a huge fan of yours. My brother is also called Dmitry (well, Dimitry actually) but he's a lot smarter than you are. I greatly enjoyed the end of your match against Nieminen at Wimbledon. I also like it when you kick Henman's butt in five sets and all the Brits start crying. My question is: How many WTA players have you dated so far? Many thanks and good blogging dude...
Hello Vassili! Thank you for the compliment on my IQ level. It is always pleasing to realize that you are not the smartest person in the world. To answer your question, I would surely give you a number but I have only learned to count to three so I’m afraid I can’t answer… ;)
