Sascha Bajin recalls meeting Naomi Osaka for the first time in 2017, lays out the key difference between her & Serena Williams
Star coach Sascha Bajin recently gave his thoughts on a variety of topics, right from working with some of the greatest WTA players, including Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams, to the values he learned from coaching top athletes.
Bajin is currently working with World No. 4 Karolina Pliskova. The German coach is, however, best known as the former hitting partner of 23-time Major winner Serena Williams, and for coaching Naomi Osaka to two Grand Slam titles.
Speaking on "The Functional Tennis Podcast," Bajin reminisced about the time he first met Naomi Osaka in 2017, following a tenure with former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. The German said he immediately recognized that Osaka was "extremely powerful," while narrating a funny account of him injuring his ankle during a practice hit with her.
"Obviously, I knew who she was, never really looked too much at her game but I remember her being extremely powerful and I saw that athleticism in her. So whenever you have that type of combination you know it's very intriguing," Sascha Bajin said.
"So I drove down her house and I broke 2-3 ligaments in my ankle within 10 minutes of practice! It was pretty bad but I tried to act like nothing happened. I had another session with her the next day and we decided to give it a go... Not the first impression you want to make as a coach." Bajin added.
Bajin was then asked to shed some light on the difference between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams based on his experience working with them. The German replied that although both Williams and Osaka have the same intrinsic qualities, their approach can be very different.
"It's a big difference although they both have the same game, the power from the baseline. But huge difference approach-wise," Bajin remarked.
"Serena is older, she knows what she kinda has to do, she knows what works for her, she found her routine at the tournament already. When I started with Naomi everything was a bit raw. Younger players tend to waste a lot of energy [to find things that work for them]."
"She was very laidback when I started with her, very relaxed, very shy" - Sascha Bajin on Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka hired Sascha Bajin when she was ranked 68th in the world in 2017. The coach turned her career around the following year, not only helping her triumph at the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, but also facilitating her rise to World No. 1.
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First w of year 22 😊🧡 https://t.co/L30kd4Yp9c
Osaka split with Bajin shortly after her Australian Open win in 2019, leaving many fans confused. Bajin, however, holds nothing against the Japanese and learned a lot from her during their time together.
When probed about Osaka's defining quality, he replied that she was very laidback and patient as a person.
"I've learned patience from Naomi. She was very laidback when I started with her, very relaxed, very shy," Bajin said. "She would tell me, 'Sascha, it's okay, you can relax I don't mind waiting 2 minutes'. This was the one thing I learned from her, to just sometimes slow down.