Naomi Osaka has not had the best of 2024, struggling to regain her previous dominance. After an early exit from the US Open, she made the decision to part ways with her Belgian coach, Wim Fissette. Despite the split, both Osaka and Fissette have spoken highly of each other, confirming that the separation was amicable. However, Fissette’s recent interview suggests otherwise, raising doubts about the true nature of their split.
In a conversation with Functional Tennis, Fissette was asked if he would prefer winning a Grand Slam title at a younger or later age. Osaka’s ex-coach explained that winning it early in one’s career can diminish a player’s motivation. With the financial rewards that come with a Grand Slam title, he believes a player might be less driven to put in the same effort as before.
“If you win two Grand Slams at a young age and then suddenly you don’t win. Probably something went wrong and your development or maybe your motivation. I see that winning a Grand Slam and everything that comes with it and especially a lot of money can kill someone’s motivation to work hard and to develop,” said the Belgian coach.
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He further added that not all players are like Serena Williams, wanting to win 20+ Slams. Hence, he believes that a player must focus on their year-by-year development first and aim to win a Slam at a later stage in their career.
The remarks made by Fissette seemed to have a lot in common with what happened with Osaka. After winning four Grand Slam titles between 2018 and 2021, the Japanese star’s career took a downturn. Her battle with mental health issues, followed by injuries, kept her away from the game for quite some time.
After a brief comeback in the sport, Osaka missed the entire 2023 season due to the birth of her first child. She tried to regain her previous form but couldn’t secure a single title this season. Following her second-round loss at the US Open, Osaka decided to part ways with Fissette and replaced him with Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Fissette-Zheng controversy
This isn’t the first time Fissette’s actions have raised eyebrows among tennis fans. Before her maternity break, Osaka had temporarily split with the Belgian coach. During this time, he partnered with Chinese tennis player Qinwen Zheng but didn’t stay with her for long. As soon as Osaka resumed training, Fissette informed Zheng that he was returning to coach the Japanese star.
Zheng was left stunned by this decision and revealed that she even cried. While she had feared this could happen, her team had assured her otherwise. Her worst fear came true when, a week after her 2023 US Open loss, Fissette communicated his decision to her.
“It was quite a big impact to me and my team members and my family. I cried after hearing that. There were no fights, no arguments in our collaboration,” said Zheng.
From the outside, it seemed certain that Fissette wanted to work with Osaka again, which is why he left Zheng. However, his latest interview has raised many doubts among tennis fans, making it difficult to decipher the reason behind Osaka’s decision to part ways with him.
But now that Osaka has embarked on a new journey with a coach who has trained one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time, it will be interesting to see if she can return to the pinnacle of success.
