Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. I’m super excited to share some awesome news and insights about Naomi Osaka’s career and her recent success.
Naomi Osaka, the 4-time Grand Slam champion, has been making waves in the tennis world once again. After a series of ups and downs in her career, particularly following her mental health issues and her departure from coach Wim Fissette last September, Osaka has made a significant move by hiring Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach. This decision has garnered a lot of interest and speculation about whether Osaka can trust Mouratoglou to bring her back to the top of her game.
Osaka made her debut at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, where she defeated Lucia Bronzetti with a 6-3, 6-2 score. This victory set the stage for her upcoming match against Yulia Putintseva, the number 21 seed, in the second round. The head-to-head between Osaka and Putintseva stands at 3-2 in favor of Osaka, indicating that she is on the right track.
In a recent press conference, Osaka expressed her positive feelings about her performance and her new coach. “I felt good. I’m really happy that I was able to play well. The court suits my style really well and I hope to play at least a couple more matches here. I have no expectations, especially now I’m trying to work on some different things. I try to focus on myself,” she said.
The decision to hire Mouratoglou was not taken lightly. Osaka mentioned that she was initially hesitant due to his previous association with Serena Williams, but after meeting him and working together, she found him to be an excellent coach. “I call him coach now. There is a lot of interest in my corner right now, but yes: he is my coach. I hope in the long term. I like the way he coaches, I think it will be interesting. Wim is one of my favorite people. Nothing personal, nothing crazy happened. I felt like I needed a change. I am at a stage in my career where I don’t want to have any regrets. I need to learn as much as possible now and Patrick seems like the right person to get the information I want to learn more things,” she explained.
Mouratoglou’s collaboration with Serena Williams was highly successful, as they won 10 Majors and an Olympic gold medal together. However, his subsequent collaborations with Simona Halep and Holger Rune did not yield the desired results. The question remains whether he can bring Osaka back to her former glory.
The relationship between Osaka and Mouratoglou will be crucial in determining whether they can achieve redemption. Both parties are seeking to learn from past mistakes and start anew. As Osaka mentioned, “The fact that he was Serena’s coach almost made me want to avoid him, because his personality is so great. Then I met him, talked to him and worked with him on the court. He is absolutely a great coach. I am grateful that he accepted this project. I am still nervous when I am close to him and I stare at the ground when he looks at me, but I feel more and more comfortable every day,” she added.
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