WTA: Interview with Sascha Bajin:”Serena would destroy John McEnroe”.

Munich’s Sascha Bajin is the tour’s best-known hitting partner. With tennisnet. com he talks about tennis training with women, a comparison between Serena Williams and John McEnroe, his experiences with Vika, Sloane, Caroline – and a lady named Heidi.

Sascha Bajin, 32, stepped in when Serena Williams was looking for a training partner in 2007. Williams was enthusiastic and committed the resident of Munich as a permanent hitting partner. Bajin moved to Florida and lived under one roof for years with the best player of all time. In 2015, Bajin left Williams because he wanted to take on more responsibility. Most recently,”Big Sascha” (“So Serena came around the corner”) was on Caroline Wozniacki’s team and led them to their biggest victory in Singapore. A few days ago, Bajin announced that he will now be working with Naomi Osaka.

tennisnet: Mr. Bajin, you have experienced four great personalities with Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and now Caroline Wozniacki. What are they like, off the court?

Bajin: Actually, they’re normal girls. Also Serena, who gives the impression on the court that she is a diva. Outside, she’s funny and super nice. She has a relatively black humor, which I liked very much. Vika is also very relaxed, just like Sloane. And Caroline is so polite! Some things are not so different from others.

tennisnet: Nevertheless, the ladies’ tennis world is somewhat special. Daniela Hantuchova had talked years ago about how much envy and resentment reign.

Bajin: I have to be careful what I say… (laughs) Women are perhaps a little more obstinate by nature. Serena’s not here to make friends either. She never ate in the Players restaurant or stayed at the facility. For them it is business, similar to Vika. Maybe the boys are more relaxed and can distinguish between professional and private life. I don’t know anyone at Caroline’s who doesn’t like her. But of course, they are competitors who want to take something away from each other. In case of doubt, I am also in favour of not making friends – unless you can separate them.

tennisnet: With Serena, you’ve lived under one roof for three years. How did it go?

Bajin: That was with Serena, Venus, physiotherapist Esther and assistant Valerie. It was a big house, but there were still four women – and I (laughs). Serena had her own wing, Venus, and so did we, the employees. It was like a big family. We cooked together and I spent three years watching the Kardashians and the Desperate Housewives.

tennisnet: Serena has found you a young lady named “Heidi” during this time….

Bajin: I got a message:”Hey Sascha, I’m Heidi and have your number from a friend of Serena. I think you’re cute.” Then she sent me attractive photos. She had a Facebook page with 60,70 friends, school profile, hobbies and everything, and I’ve been writing with Heidi for over three or four months. At some point, she said,”If you don’t want to meet me tomorrow, just make sure I don’t run into Serena,” and at breakfast I asked Serena about Heidi, saying that she must be a little crazy. Serena laughed, and I thought something was wrong. The next morning I called the number. Serena always has her cell phone silent. And suddenly a cell phone rings in her pocket! She showed me up for four months and created this person, with Facebook account and everything.

tennisnet: I hope you took revenge!

Bajin: Again and again, but not in great style. She would have had better cards. Someday I will. Life is still long (laughs).

tennisnet: Do you still have contact with her?

Bajin: Yes, we meet from time to time. I live five minutes from her in Palm Beach. Right now she’s busy with child and man. Let time enjoy them. But she was a big part of my life, I was a big part of her life. I also get along very well with her father, we sometimes talk on the phone. I like this family very much.

tennisnet: You finally accepted an offer from Victoria Azarenka because you wanted to have more influence on the training. They both had a good relationship, as you could hear in public about some Twitter photos. Still, she broke up with you unpleasantly.

Bajin: We got along very well. Of course, it was her decision to let me know that she was pregnant. But she should have told the closest circle. Or can say: Sasha, it’s not up to you, please give me time, then it will make sense. After the end, I didn’t know for a month what the reason was. I looked for the mistake in me and asked myself whether I should have done this or that differently. Until Twitter found out she was pregnant. In retrospect, the tournaments also made sense before, where it was more moody, withdrawn at short notice.

tennisnet: Didn’t it occur to her that you might be waiting for her to come back?

Bajin: I would have waited, that wouldn’t have been a problem! If it had been a little more open, we could have handled things differently. But well, it was her decision.

tennisnet: Was there a debate? You’re still seeing each other in tournaments.

Bajin: No, that was off for me. The first time I met her again at the French Open, we talked briefly, that’s it. She is a competitor – when one thing is over, she looks forward. That’s okay with me as long as you respect yourself, which she does.

tennisnet: It was similar with Sloane Stephens when she was injured for a long time.

Bajin: I had put so much money into it, missed my mother’s and sister’s wedding because of her, rehabed her for six months. Although you don’t really want to do this work, you want to play it. But I strongly believed that I could help her get back to being really strong. For the first time I brought my own fitness trainer into the team, converted the guest house into a gym, gave her a television set and screwed it all together. So that she gets good energy and desire to work. Before the first match her foot hurt again – and that’s it.

tennisnet: How did she explain the separation?

Bajin: She said:”You belong on the road, do your thing. I told her that I’d like to wait and not ask for a salary. Or six months off work. She didn’t want to. Everything happens for a reason “, as they say.

tennisnet: Nevertheless, it makes you think.

Bajin: After these experiences I was humanly disappointed. That was more than business for me, I was passionate about it. At first I didn’t want to travel anymore, wanted to enjoy my life, celebrate Christmas, have a birthday, see my family. But I couldn’t refuse Caro’s offer.

tennisnet: How successful were you as a player?

Bajin: Up to the juniors I was solid, top 30 in Europe, beating some good guys. When my father died, I easily lost the thread. I’ve played a few futures, but no ATP tournaments. I have financed my life with prize money tournaments, Bundesliga and coaching lessons, that went well.

tennisnet: Did you have to change your game to train with the girls?

Bajin: Yes, yes. The women play much flatter. I can’t bring in too much variability either. I often notice this when I am pushed out of the court and play a slice. Or kick serves, because the women hardly do that, they prefer the slice through the middle as a second serve. But I trained that. Apart from that, I’m pretty shallow anyway.

tennisnet: What else is different from men?

Bajin: Women are not so aggressive about the mentality. Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Caroline…. They have a constant forehand, but they don’t get killed. In men, every shot is full steam ahead, which makes the shot over the spin rather slow. The women then tend to block him or push him in one direction.

tennisnet: The movie “Battle of the Sexes” is currently being shown in the cinema. Especially John McEnroe flirts with the fact that he likes to challenge Serena. How would that turn out?

Bajin: I hit a few balls with John after the US Open. I really like him a lot, and he’s not gonna like it… But I think Serena would crush him. In the meantime he is too old (laughs).

The interview was conducted by Florian Goosmann during the WTA Finals in Singapore.