(Los Angeles) Former world No. 1 tennis player Naomi Osaka is parting ways with her Belgian coach Wim Fissette after two periods of collaboration, she announced on Instagram on Friday.
“Four years, two Grand Slam (titles) and a lot of memories,” wrote the Japanese, wishing “the best” to her now former coach.
With Wim Fissette, Osaka won the 2020 US Open and 2021 Australian Open, as well as reaching the finals of the Cincinnati (2020, retired) and Miami (2022) tournaments.
The player and the coach have collaborated twice: from 2019 to the summer of 2022 and from the summer of 2023 – when Naomi Osaka began her process of returning to the circuit after the birth of her daughter in July – to this separation.
But since her effective return to the courts in January 2024, the former world No. 1 has struggled to regain her level and string together successes.
Her first-round victory at the U.S. Open over Jelena Ostapenko in late August was her first against a member of the top 10 in four years. Which did not prevent her from falling in the second round against Karolina Muchova (52e), future semi-finalist.