WTA: Naomi Osaka: Good in learning (and forgetting)

The start for the duo Naomi Osaka and Sascha Bajin in their cooperation is very promising – only a small thing the Munich man has to work on with his protégé.

It all started with a sprained ankle from Bajin – and then it went on like clockwork: the Australian Open eighth-finals, after victories over Elena Vesnina and Ashleigh Barty, currently the quarter-finals in Doha. Sascha Bajin continued with Naomi Osaka where he left off with Caroline Wozniacki, namely on the way up. Specifically, this meant for Osaka that they would return to the top 50 in the world, and at the end of the year they wanted to reach the top 30, the Munich-based company recently announced. If the current shape stops, this should work.

All the more so when Bajin gets a problem of his protégé under control. When asked if she was a good student, Osaka said,”No.” I learn very quickly, but I forget very quickly. She has to teach her brain somehow to understand that she has to do some things forever.

Bajin’s announcement to work with hard-hitter Osaka on the selection of strokes seems to have arrived,”He helps me make decisions. I don’t have to knock over 100 percent of certain punches. It’s about choosing when I should die.”

It’s also great that Bajin is such a positive-minded person, Osaka said, who has often noticed negative body language on court so far:”When you’re surrounded by positive people, it’s not even possible to be in a bad mood. I’m grateful to him for that.”