Patrick Mouratoglou Shares the Reasons Behind Naomi Osaka’s Split with Him After the Washington Open

Naomi Osaka is currently working with Tomasz Wiktorowski following her split with Patrick Mouratoglou.

Patrick Mouratoglou Shares the Reasons Behind Naomi Osaka’s Split with Him After the Washington Open

Patrick Mouratoglou, Naomi Osaka (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Patrick Mouratoglou has opened up about what led to Naomi Osaka parting ways with him just over a week before the Canadian Open. The split came at the back of her round of 16 loss to Emma Raducanu at the ATP 500 tournament in Washington, ending their 10-month partnership.

Mouratoglou, a former coach of the legendary Serena Williams, joined hands with Osaka in October last year, just days after her split with Wim Fissette. Their partnership fully kicked off in January and results have been mixed with injuries and uneven results. Osaka reached her first final since returning from maternity leave at the Auckland Open but was forced to retire due to abdominal injury.

At the Australian Open, she won two matches before retiring in the third round due to injury. She missed the entirety of the Middle East swing and returned to the tour during the Sunshine Doubles, but she struggled on the court. But amid that, the four-time major winner won her first clay-court title in a lower-tier WTA 125 event in France.

In Wimbledon, she won two matches before crashing out in the third round. She then reached the round of 16 of the Washington Open and lost to Raducanu in straight sets. A few days later, she announced that she had parted ways with the legendary coach.

During an interview with CNN Sports, Mouratoglou was asked about the reasons behind the split. The 55-year-old revealed that a lack of competitiveness and enough time to implement new ideas were what led to the partnership ending:

The thing that was missing was the competitiveness. I think she’s a great competitor, but at that time she was not as good a competitor as I think she can be and she has been in the past. And this is the thing that we didn’t solve. I wish we could have more time to solve it. But we didn’t, that’s life, and I have no regrets because that’s the rule when you work at a high level. I mean, time is important, and you have to solve the problems fast.

Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for Osaka to appoint Tomasz Wiktorowski on a trial basis ahead of the Canadian Open. The Polish coach had worked with Agnieszka Radwanska for seven years before partnering with Iga Swiatek for three years, helping her to win four Grand Slams and become the World No.1.

Patrick Mouratoglou hopes Naomi Osaka wins the Canadian Open after reaching the semi-finals

Naomi Osaka is into the semi-finals of the Canadian Open in Montreal after stunning 10th seed Elina Svitolina. The Japanese star delivered a masterclass performance to beat the Ukrainian 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. Osaka will now face Clara Tauson next as she hopes to secure a place in the WTA 1000 event final.

Patrick Mouratoglou and Naomi Osaka 1
Patrick Mouratoglou and Naomi Osaka (via WTA)

During the aforementioned interview, Patrick Mouratoglou wasn’t surprised by her success at the tournament. He revealed that she’s ready to battle for the title and she’s a great champion on the court:

She’s doing well for the moment in Montreal. Let’s hope she’s going to go all the way. I think her level of tennis is here. Physically, she is ready, and she’s a great competitor, she’s a great champion. So at some point, it’s going to work out. I have no doubt about it.

Osaka started the Canadian Open at World No.48 in the WTA rankings but she’s projected to break into the Top 30 following her win against Svitolina. She’s expected to climb to No.29 even though she doesn’t get to the final, which is good enough for her to be seeded at the US Open.

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