Naomi Osaka revealed that she initially wanted to ‘avoid’ Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka kicked off her China Open campaign with a smart win over Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-3 6-2.
It was her first match under the newly-appointed Patrick Mouratoglou – formerly the coach of Serena Williams and Holger Rune.
Osaka parted with her ex-coach of four years Wim Fisette after having won two major titles together.
A long-term hiatus from the WTA Tour after the birth of her daughter has seen an inconsistent Osaka return, with 19 wins and 16 defeats this year.
Naomi Osaka admits she wanted to ‘avoid’ new coach Patrick Mouratoglou at first
The 26-year-old claimed that she wanted to live without ‘regrets’ after hiring the Frenchman as her new coach, with fans split over Osaka’s decision to combine with Mouratoglou.
With Coco Gauff splitting from Brad Gilbert just days after Osaka started her new chapter with Mouratoglou, some thought that the former number one should’ve waited.
American pundit Jon Wertheim even suggested Osaka had made a mistake by hiring the Frenchman.
Osaka revealed that she too was hesitant at first, telling the BBC: “The fact that he was Serena’s coach made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big.
“This isn’t rude,” the four-time major champion continued, “because I found out it’s not true, but I didn’t know if he was a good coach or he coached Serena. Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach.”
Known for her shy but focused demeanour, Osaka added: “I think I’m at a stage in my life that I don’t want to have regrets. I’d rather pull the trigger on something and I don’t want to say ‘fail’, but I feel like I really need to learn as much as possible in this stage of my career.
“I try not to get into relationships with people for the short term. I try to think of it as a long-term commitment.”
Who is Naomi Osaka set to play next at the China Open?
A former champion in Beijing, Osaka was serene in her opener, after what was a mixed US Open. The 26-year-old beat tenth seed Jelena Ostapenko in New York before being defeated by the masterful grace of Karolina Muchova in round two.
Now in China, Osaka fired down eight aces and broke her opponents serve four times to come through in one hour and 23 minutes.
Standing in her way is crafty Kazakh Yulia Putintseva – a player who recently beat Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon and Coco Gauff in Cincinnati.
Having played five times already, Osaka has the opportunity to level their head-to-head at three wins each, with their most recent match seeing the Japanese star win in straight sets at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in April.
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