Naomi Osaka recently hired Patrick Mouratoglou, but she wanted to avoid the coach because he used to coach Serena Williams, which made her a bit uncertain about the choice.
Osaka spent much of this year working with Wim Fissette, who is a good coach but couldn't help the former World No. 1 reach the goals she set out for herself at the start of the year.
The Japanese player famously said that she wanted to get back to the Top 10 on the WTA Tour by the end of the year, which was hugely ambitious and very unlikely to happen.
When she failed to reach that goal, Osaka felt like a change was needed. It wasn't anything personal towards Fissette, who was doing a good job; it was mostly her wanting to try something new and eliminating any chance of regretting not doing something.
A new coach seemed like a good idea, and while the choice fell upon Mouratoglou, she wasn't entirely sold on it immediately. Asked about the hire at the 2024 China Open in Beijing, Osaka admitted that the fact that the Frenchman worked with Serena Williams made her wonder whether he was truly a great coach or simply somebody who coached the best player of all time.
She acknowledged that it sounded rude, but once she talked to him and spent some time with him on the court, she was sold.
"You know, should I be honest? Because being honest gets me in trouble often (smiling). I think the fact that he was Serena's coach for me made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big."
"Like, this isn't rude because I found out it's not true, but I didn't know - this sounds so bad - I didn't know if he was a good coach or he coached Serena. Does that make sense?"
"I'm like, I'm just going to do my own thing. Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach. I'm really glad that he's, I guess, taking this project on, as well."
The first match under Mouratoglou went really well because Osaka won it comfortably. She didn't face an easy opponent either, so that was a good start for the duo. The relationship is still very fresh, and they just started working together, so the four-time major champion needs some time to adust.
"I would say I'm still a little nervous around him. I kind of look to the floor when he looks at me. I'm like... I think I do need a lot more time to spend together with him. I'm getting a little more comfortable day by day."
Ultimately, what Mouratoglou does extremely well is making players believe in themselves and unlock their full potential, and Osaka certainly needs that. She never lost her talent but certainly seems to have lost belief that she can play the way she played a couple of years ago.
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