Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has stunned the tennis world by announcing she has split from her coach just over a fortnight after winning the grand slam at Melbourne Park.
On Tuesday Osaka tweeted she would be parting ways with Sascha Bajin, which sent shockwaves around the sport.
Osaka surged to No. 1 in the world rankings after her Australian Open triumph, becoming the first Japanese player to achieve the feat, and now holds two major titles after her dramatic win over Serena Williams at last year’s US Open.
The Australian Open win over Petra Kvitova saw the 21-year-old become the first woman to win successive majors since Williams in 2015 and the youngest since Martina Hingis to do so in 1998.
Osaka’s recent success makes her coaching split that much more surprising — a sentiment expressed by American tennis legend Lindsay Davenport. Read more
