WTA: Sascha Bajin changes to Naomi Osaka

After a successful year with Caroline Wozniacki, Sascha Bajin and Naomi Osaka are now dedicated to a player who also has the potential to reach the top.

If you book Sascha Bajin as a Hitting Partner, you will get one of the most experienced – and most successful – partners on the WTA tour. Caroline Wozniacki made this experience in 2017, with Bajin (and of course father Piotr) at her side, the Dane has returned to the absolute top of the world, finishing the year with success at the WTA finals in Singapore and as the third best lady. That Wozniacki broke up with Bajin came as a surprise. But for the German, who has also worked with Serena Williams, there is a new task yet again: Naomi Osaka.

The Japanese woman is somewhat fresh in her memory for German tennis fans, but not the best of memories: Osaka put a stop to Angelique Kerber’s possible title defence right at the start of the US Open 2017, bidding farewell to the two-time Major Winner from the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

That the 20-year-old finished the past season in 68th place must be seen as a disappointment – after all, Osaka was already in 40th place in 2016. With her aggressive playground, however, the Japanese player, who mainly trains in the USA, has the best prerequisites for playing her way up the world rankings of an Yelena Ostapenko. In contrast to the Latvian, however, Osaka still lacks the unconditional belief in her own ability to perform – even though at the end of the year in Hong Kong she once again set an exclamation point with a success against Venus Williams.