Naomi Osaka has been enjoying a rather impressive stint in the last couple of years, especially after winning the US Open and the Australian Open. Naomi partnered with a couple of tennis coaches during her run. In the beginning, she was coached by Sascha Bajin (and that was wildly successful); later, she was coached by Jermaine Jenkins with rather unsatisfactory results.
Her father Leonard Francois was a constant in Naomi’s professional life to often coach her daughter. However, in the past few years, he decided to stay “in the shadow” to let the other coaches doing their jobs.
My father annoys me, but…
After the departure of Jermaine Jenkins, Leonard went back to coaching Naomi with spectacular results given her back-to-back titles in Osaka and Beijing. During a recent interview, Naomi jokingly said “He [her father] annoyed me so much that it just makes me angry and I use the anger as a fuel to win!”
However, some didn’t take Naomi’s joke very well, and the Japanese no.1 wanted to thank her father for everything to post publicly
“All jokes aside, I love my dad so much, and I’m grateful for everything I learn from him on and off the court. I feel extremely lucky to be his kid cause he just drops knowledge.”
All jokes aside I love my dad so much and I’m grateful for everything I learn from him on and off the court. I feel extremely lucky to be his kid cause he just drops knowledge 🙏 https://t.co/JEAvIXaE8c
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) October 10, 2019
Naomi Osaka’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.3, the Japanese played her last match on the 6th of October when she beat Ashleigh Barty 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the final in Beijing to win her 4th career title.
This year Osaka has a 39-11 win-loss record. Osaka clinched 3 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Osaka and in Beijing.
