Naomi Osaka had a fantastic partnership with her former coach Sascha Bajin, a partnership that ended abruptly 2 weeks after she won the Australian Open.
Besides his crucial tactical inputs, Sascha was also very instrumental in helping Naomi to face the stress of being a top player as the German had a lot of experience after he was in Serena Williams’ camp for many years.
The Japanese crashed out in the opening match in Dubai (6-3 6-3) at the hands of the world no. 67 Kiki Mladenovic that before Dubai had a grim 0-4 win-loss record.
People do not look me in a good way. OSAKA
After the match, Naomi was clearly struggling during the interview to comment
“I don’t think I necessarily understand what position I’m in in a way. And because last year I wasn’t even anywhere close to this ranking and people didn’t pay attention to me and that’s something that I’m comfortable with.
This match is the result of that [the split with her coach]. I’m pretty sure as time goes on you guys will stop talking about it. For now, it’s like the biggest tennis news, I guess.
See, it’s a little bit hard because I feel like people are staring at me, and not in a good way.”
It’s probably time for Naomi to regroup and get ready for Indian Wells where she will have to defend her title. It is not going to be easy.
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