Naomi Osaka ends partnership with coach Patrick Mouratoglou

Naomi Osaka has announced the end of her association with Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year of collaboration. The former world No. 1 decided to boost her career in late 2024 by hiring the former Serena Williams coach, achieving relative success, but they decided to end their relationship after 10 months.

The four-time Grand Slam champion announced this after a year in which she hasn't quite achieved the resurgence she hoped for. The Japanese star aims to return to the forefront of the WTA Tour, and so far, she hasn't made significant strides during the season, despite a decent 20-10 record, but only reaching world No. 51.

There had been no signs of a potential break with Mouratoglou, and she seemed to have found some stability after a long time. However, the results the Japanese player expected have not yet materialized.

"Merci Patrick. It was such a great experience learning from you. Wishing you nothing but the best. You are one of the coolest people I’ve ever met and I’m sure I’ll see you around," Osaka posted on her social media, alongside a photo of her training on clay courts with the renowned French coach.

Naomi Osaka & Patrick Mouratoglou split after 10 months

Mouratoglou is undoubtedly one of the most renowned coaches on Tour, having worked with Serena Williams for 10 of her Grand Slam titles. Mouratoglou also had recent associations with players like Simona Halep and Holger Rune.

With a prestigious Tennis Academy, he has also helped several prominent names over the past couple of decades, with names like Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas regularly training at Mouratoglou's complex. He also previously had experiences with names like Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Jeremy Chardy, and Grigor Dimitrov.

Therefore, the announcement of his partnership with Osaka last year seemed like it could give the Japanese player the boost she needed to return to dominating the circuit, achieving relative success together.

The Japanese player won her first title in years at the WTA 125 Saint-Malo – returning to play Challenger tournaments, something she hadn't done since the early stages of her career. This year, she also reached the final in Auckland and had a couple of Round of 16 appearances at WTA 1000 tournaments (Miami Open and Rome Open).

Regarding Grand Slam tournaments, her record is a modest 4-3, quite meager for a player with four major trophies in her cabinet. She reached the third round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and fell in the first round of Roland Garros.