Naomi Osaka parted ways with ex-coach Sascha Bajin after finding out he was dating ‘unnamed’ WTA competitor

Ben Rothenberg reveals the real reason for the split between Naomi Osaka and coach Sascha Bajin in her biography.

Naomi Osaka parted ways with ex-coach Sascha Bajin after finding out he was dating ‘unnamed’ WTA competitor

Naomi Osaka and Sascha Bajin (Source: X)

Naomi Osaka’s rise to the top in the world of tennis can be attributed to the years she worked with coach Sascha Bajin. For the uninitiated, Bajin joined Osaka’s team back in 2017. 

The two achieved numerous accolades together and were extremely successful. Naomi Osaka, who used to be a World No. 72 player, won the Indian Wells and US Open in 2018 and climbed up the WTA rankings to become World No. 1. However, the successful duo split up in 2019 almost suddenly under mysterious circumstances.  

YouTube video

After winning her second Grand Slam title at the 2019 Australian Open, Naomi Osaka suddenly announced her split with Sascha Bajin through a tweet in February.

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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.
She wrote

Neither party explained their split later. 

It was said that Sascha Bajin was dating a competing young tennis player, and that was what led to the split. The rumor has now been confirmed in Ben Rothenberg’s book ‘Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice’, which is a biography of the Japanese player. Osaka had heard about Bajin’s off-court relationship with another player and asked him about it. 

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.
Ben Rothenberg writes. (H/T: Tennis.com)

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Naomi Osaka pulled out from her charity match against Emma Raducanu ahead of the 2024 Australian Open 

Naomi Osaka will finally be taking part in the 2024 Australian Open after missing the tournament for two consecutive years. She recently made a comeback to court after her year-long pregnancy break. She played in the Brisbane International.

Osaka won her first match in style but lost to Karolina Pliskova in the second round. Pliskova, who already had a 3-2 lead against the Japanese in head-to-head, extended her lead over her. 

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka (Credits: Sky Sports)

She was supposed to play a charity match against Emma Raducanu, who is also making a comeback at the Australian Open ahead of the Grand Slam. 

However, the Japanese pulled out of the match for an unknown reason. She probably wants to take no risks ahead of the tournament.

Emma Raducanu was then supposed to play against Donna Vekic, but later the match itself was cancelled as the Brit also withdrew. 

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