"I was always worried" - Naomi Osaka's ex-coach called out by insider after split for 'red flag' comments on women's tennis

A tennis insider, Matthew Roberts, recently shared his thoughts on Naomi Osaka announcing her split from her French coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. The Japanese tennis star started working with the former coach of legendary player Serena Williams in September 2024, but decided to amicably part ways just before the 2025 US Open.

Naomi Osaka and Mouratoglou, who is also a sports commentator and businessman, were not able to mutually grow their rapport and did not achieve the success they had hoped. The four-time major winner struggled to live up to expectations after coming back from her pregnancy last year and concluded her season prematurely due to a back injury.

At the 2025 Australian Open, Osaka retired in the third round, and at the 2025 Miami Open, she ended her journey in the fourth round. Later, she clinched the WTA 125 Saint-Malo title after defeating Kaja Juvan in the final. But her poor show in the big tournaments, under the tutelage of Mouratoglou, continued.

On his "The Tennis Podcast" podcast released on July 28, Matthew Roberts criticized Patrick Mouratoglou over the latter's 'no stars in women's tennis' comments. He said:

“When she hired Patrick Mouratoglou in the first place, looking at the recent Patrick Mouratoglou history I was always worried about sort of where it might end up that coaching relationship, if you look at sort of look at where he left Holger Rune and where he left Simona Halep; probably in a worse place than where he found them."

He continued:

"That statement from Mouratoglou about no stars in women’s tennis, like you’re literally working with Naomi Osaka. That press conference in Paris where Osaka spoke about not wanting to let him down and how he used to work with the greatest of all time and now he’s seeing that performance after her loss to Badosa. Like that was a red flag of not a healthy player coach relationship."

After an early exit at Wimbledon and Citi Open, the former World No. 1 Ariana Arseneault to reach the second round of the ongoing Canadian Open on July 27.

---

Naomi Osaka to work with Iga Swiatek's former coach on a trial basis

After her split from Patrick Mouratoglou, Naomi Osaka has joined forces with Tomasz Wiktorowski, the former coach of World No.3 Iga Swiatek. Under his tutelage, Swiatek won three major titles.

As per tennis journalist, Courtney Nguyen, Wiktorowski has recently travelled to Montreal to assist the Japanese player in her Canadian Open run. Naomi Osaka defeated Canadian tennis player Ariana Arseneault 6-4, 6-2 in her first match and will be facing Liudmila Samsonova from Russia in the next round.

Edited by Sumeet Kavthale