The off season is the typical moment when coaches are hired and swapped. Last year, Dayana Yastremska announced the hiring of Naomi Osaka‘s former coach Sascha Bajin in what seemed to be a fantastic move. Unfortunately, things got pretty bad between the 2 and the Ukrainian decided to fire Sascha after the US Open.
However, Bajin is a very respected coach and he already proved himself by helping Naomi reach stardom. He also had a brief coaching stint with Kristina Mladenovic whose results improved a lot during that period.
Pliskova parted ways with her coach Daniel Vallverdu after an extremely disappointing 2020. The Czech champion played 9 tournaments and her best result was winning Brisbane besides reaching the final in Rome. Karolina was probably disappointed with her performance at the slams since she could not go beyond the 2nd round at the US Open and the Roland Garros. She reached just the 3rd round at the Australian Open.
Therefore Karolina decided to try to partner with Sascha. The German coach also had a long experience being the hitting partner of Serena Williams. Therefore, he knows 2 or 3 things about winning slams.
Karolina Pliskova in 2020
At the moment ranked no.6, Pliskova played her last match on the 22nd of October when she lost to Veronika Kudermetova 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the 2nd round in Ostrava (draw).
Presently, this year Pliskova has a 14-8 record. Karolina clinched 1 title in Brisbane. Pliskova was the runner-up in Rome.
Naomi Osaka in 2020
Currently ranked no.3, Naomi played her last match on the 12th of September when she defeated Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
Presently, this year Osaka has 16-3 win-loss record. The Japanese has won 1 title at the U.S. Open. The Japanese reached the final in New York.
Karolina Pliskova and Naomi Osaka played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Pliskova. The last time that they locked horns, Karolina Pliskova won 6-710 7-63 6-2 in the semifinal in Brisbane (Brisbane International) on the 11th of January 2020.
Here the highlights.
Dayana Yastremska in 2020
Currently the world no.29, Yastremska played her last match on the 9th of November when she surrendered to Greetje Minnen 6-4 6-3 in the 1st round in Linz (draw).
Dayana Yastremska’s most significant accomplishment of this season was reaching the final in Adelaide.
Kristina Mladenovic in 2020
Now ranked no.49, Mladenovic played her last match on the 29th of September when she was overcome by Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3 in the 1st round of the French Open (draw).
Dayana Yastremska and Kristina Mladenovic played each other once. The head to head is 1-0 for Mladenovic. When they played, Kristina Mladenovic won 6-3 6-4 in the 1st round in Istanbul (TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup) in April 2019.
