'DJ Dmi' Spins That Wheel

ATPDmitry Tursunov spins records when he's not blogging or playing tennis.

Dmitry Tursunov is known as much for his knack with words as with the racquet. But the talents of the Russian tennis star turned celebrity blogger extend even further - to the world of beats.

With the growth of his celebrity through his off-the-wall atpworldtour.com blog, Tursunov's taste in music, among other things, has become a hot topic of conversation. And, as might be expected, the Russian takes it one step further than providing a mere laundry list of songs currently playing on his iPod.

Tursunov, instead, assumes his alter-persona of 'DJ Dmi' and publishes self-made music mixes on his personal web site. He says, "I put a disclaimer saying that it's for my own personal use, but people ask what kind of music I like, so you can download it and you can answer that question by listening."

Dmitrytursunov.com has four mixes to date, appropriately titled according to his location at the time inspiration struck him to make the mix. A couple of clicks and anyone can experience the power songs thumping in Tursunov's ears as he led Russia to the Hopman Cup in January - a Progressive House compilation that thankfully omits his so-called 'favorites' Barbra Streisand and Jean-Michel Jarre.

Rather, for the man who calls the world his office, the eclectic Hopman Cup Mix spans continents and styles, neatly melding together remixes of such DJs and artists as Martin Solveig featuring Salif Keita, Shakira, The White Stripes, Pavlik Viktor and DJ Quicksilver Meets Shaggy.

"Obviously in one mix there would be three or four different songs that one wouldn't like, so I would cut them out and put them together myself," says Tursunov, who names Paul Oakenfold and John Digweed among his music influences. "I just want 70 minutes of something that I like, not 30 minutes of something I like and 40 minutes of something I would never listen to."

Tursunov's first efforts came in the form of basic compilation tapes which he produced as a 14-year-old in Northern California by recording CDs onto cassettes using a gigantic boom box, his first purchase with his allowance money.

He has since graduated to more sophisticated methods, and accordingly, mixes.

"There's software that looks like two turntables and a mixer and you just do everything on it," explains Tursunov, who makes the mixes in hotels, player lounges, airports and airplanes during down time on the ATP circuit. "It actually matches beats for you so it's a little bit simpler because on real turntables, you have one song going in one ear and one song going in another ear so it's a little more difficult. I wouldn't attempt to do that!"

But Tursunov, who admits to "DJ as well as Vince raps," says he'd like to learn and perhaps perfect the trade some day when he has a bit more time, which is welcome news to his growing fan base of eager listeners already showering him with high praise.

Writes one adoring Australian fan: "Well done Dmitry, you really know what you're doing with these songs... this might be your next calling, after tennis! DJ D! And it helps that you're so cute, you'll be swamped with gigs (and girls!)"