The story behind Naomi Osaka’s breakup with her former coach, Sascha Bajin, has been revealed in a new biography of the athlete. Osaka and Bajin started working together in 2017, and their collaboration was highly successful. Osaka started the year ranked world No. 72 and rose to the top of the WTA rankings after winning the US Open and Indian Wells titles.

Bajin was even voted the WTA coach of the year for helping Osaka dominate the women’s circuit. She won the Australian Open the following season, extending her winning streak. However, she announced on social media, just 17 days after her victory in Melbourne, that she and Bajin had broken up.

She posted on X: “Hey everyone, I will no longer be working together with Sascha. I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future.”

In a new biography of Osaka, journalist Ben Rothenberg claims that she broke up with Bajin when she found out he was dating a competitor.

Rothenberg revealed this and said: “Naomi confronted Bajin, breaking the weeks-long silence between them, putting him on the spot about what she’d heard about his off-court relationship with another player. Bajin, who had encouraged Naomi to hit with this player at a tournament despite her much lower ranking, denied it repeatedly. The next day, when Bajin came back and admitted it was true, Naomi told him her trust had been broken.”

Naomi Osaka in 2024

Currently ranked no.833, the Japanese played her last match on the 3^rd of January when she lost to world no.37 Karolina Pliskova 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 in the 2^nd round in Brisbane (draw).

At present, during this year the Japanese has achieved a 1-1 match record.