Patrick Mouratoglou shared a candid note to Naomi Osaka following the conclusion of their first official tournament as a duo as the French coach publicly highlighted that he enjoyed his time around the Japanese and also praised her for the way she handled herself during practice but also matches.
After parting ways with coach Wim Fissette, the four-time Grand Slam champion landed in Beijing with Serena Williams' former long-time coach by her side. To no one's surprise, their partnership drew major attention as it is not a secret that the 26-year-old is determined to get back to her winning ways while Mouratoglou's resume speaks for itself.
And safe to say, their collaboration got off to a great start despite Osaka's promising run coming to an end in an unfortunate way. Before coming to the China Open, the former world No. 1 had been without back-to-back wins since mid-June. But in Beijing, she got through her first three matches - then was up by a set against Coco Gauff - before a back injury forced her to retire in the round-of-16.
"Its been our first tournament together with @naomiosaka and it was so rich in terms of learning. From the practice sessions to the warm ups on match days, to all the preparations and the match briefing and debriefings, I got so much to learn about her. I also got to spend time with the amazing team around her @florian.zitz @simone._.elliott @matizukas. I am really proud of all her efforts, her focus and willingness to learn and progress. Its the best attitude to be in a growth process. Now is time to heal and get ready for new challenges," Mouratoglou wrote on Instagram.
Osaka admitted she was 'hesitant' to hire Mouratoglou
As mentioned above, the four-time Major winner has repeated numerous times over the course of the year that she wants to return to being one of the top players again. And after Wissette was gone, it was clear that the Japanese would be looking to hire someone who was proven.
Considering that the French coach worked with Williams for 10 years and enjoyed massive success with the American tennis legend, there is not really much that needs to be said about him. Also, he elevated Holger Rune's game when they started working two years ago.
But when the option of hiring Mouratoglou became a real possibility, Osaka started overthinking it because she wasn't sure if she could work with such a huge name.
"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. 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 taking this project on as well," she said at the start of her Beijing campaign.
Osaka knows what she wants from the Mouratoglou partnership
After thinking a bit about whether or not to proceed with their partnership, the 26-year-old decided to try it because according to her, she would rather go for something than not do it and later have regrets. Also, the Japanese underlined that she felt he was the guy who could help her.
"I like the way he coaches. I think it's going to be really interesting. I think I'm at a stage in my life that I don't want to have regrets. I'd rather pull the trigger on something and I don't want to say 'fail', but I feel like I really need to learn as much as possible in this stage of my career. Patrick seemed like the guy with I guess the information that I wanted to learn from. I try not to get into relationships with people for short-term. I try to think of it as a long-term commitment. I like the way he coaches. I think it's going to be really interesting," Osaka noted.
Meanwhile, the former world No. 1 won the first set 6-3 versus Gauff and was up by a break in the second set but then her game collapsed as the American won three games in a row to take the second set 6-4.
But instead of getting a decider between the two stars, fans were left stunned after the Japanese retired following the conclusion of the second set. Later, she revealed that it was a back injury.
"Hi everyone just wanted to say Im extremely thankful and happy to have played in Beijing. That being said I feel like I owe a little backstory about today- So I locked my back up during practice earlier and honestly wasnt sure if I could even play but I just wanted to try, unfortunately things just got progressively worse during the match. Totally worth it though lol," the 2019 Beijing champion wrote on Threads.
If everything goes right, Osaka should return to action at the Wuhan Open next week.
