Is Tomasz Wiktorowski the right coach for Naomi Osaka’s Renaissance?

Regardless of how the run ends, this is already Osaka’s most prestigious result of the year – alongside the Auckland final – boosting her chances of being seeded at the US Open, a tournament she has already won twice.

Signs of revival

One might wonder how much of Osaka’s resurgence is truly due to Wiktorowski’s influence. Probably not much at this stage, but a breath of fresh air is often welcome.

For a player like her, who has been struggling for quite some time, change can be a powerful motivator. It’s no secret that Osaka’s 2025 season has been disappointing by her standards and ambitions.

Despite a few encouraging wins, she hasn’t been able to perform well in several major tournaments. In the Grand Slams, she reached the third round in both Melbourne and Wimbledon, but suffered a first‑round exit in Paris. She also never advanced beyond the fourth round in any WTA 1000, prior to this week.

Her press conferences reflected this inconsistency. She looked devastated in Paris, but almost indifferent in London. Then, somewhat unexpectedly, she decided to part ways with Mouratoglou and bring in the very different figure in Wiktorowski.

Wiktorowski’s credentials

The Polish coach is no stranger to elite players. He guided Agnieszka Radwańska between 2011 and 2018, and later coached Iga Świątek from 2022 to 2024. He also worked with Olga Danilović in 2019 and 2020.

His stint with Radwańska ended with a career‑high ranking of World No. 2 and a Wimbledon final, albeit without a Grand Slam title.

His collaboration with Świątek, however, was far more successful: four Grand Slam trophies, over 100 weeks as World No. 1, and a historic 37‑match winning streak – the longest of the 21st century. His résumé is impressive and speaks for itself.

What lies ahead

That said, it would be unfair to set expectations too high. Osaka is a very different type of player from the ones Wiktorowski has coached before and currently in a very different phase of her career.

Still, the ingredients are there for a potentially fruitful partnership. Wiktorowski has proven himself among the very best – he even won the WTA Coach of the Year award in 2022. And Osaka, despite her struggles, has consistently shown she has the game to return to the top.

It will take time, and a breakthrough at Flushing Meadows is far from guaranteed. But perhaps – as her Montreal campaign suggests – this change is exactly what she needed.