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Naomi Osaka shocks tennis world with bombshell announcement

Naomi Osaka has left the tennis world stunned with a major announcement about her future.

The Australian Open champ has split from coach Sascha Bajin, a little more than two weeks after she won her second-consecutive grand slam title and moved to No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

“I will no longer be working together with Sascha” Osaka posted on Twitter on Monday.

“I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future.”

Osaka’s agent confirmed to The Associated Press that Osaka would no longer be working with Bajin, the 2018 WTA Coach of the Year, but said there would be no further comment.

Less than a half-hour after Osaka’s tweet, Bajin responded to her on Twitter.

He thanked her and wrote: “I wish you nothing but the best as well. What a ride that was. Thank you for letting me be part of this.”

Osaka hired Bajin before the 2018 season. He then proceeded to help her go from relative unknown to World No.1 with two grand slam titles.

The shock split has left a number of fans and pundits gobsmacked.

“It’s a shocker. She just has won two grand slams,” US great Lindsay Davenport told The Tennis Channel.

“They started working together in December of 2017 and it’s just been nothing but improvement for Osaka.

“That is really surprising, especially given Osaka’s results.”

Sascha Bajin during the Australian Open final. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Sascha Bajin during the Australian Open final. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Tennis writer Chris Oddo said the decision was “shocking”, while colleague Ben Rothenberg was also surprised.

“Well this is very surprising news from the WTA #1 and winner of the last two grand slam events,” Rothenberg wrote.

“Sascha Bajin was named WTA Coach of the year in 2018.”

David Law of The Tennis Podcast suggested there might be more to the split than meets the eye.

“They were together a year and she won two grand slams in a row, Indian Wells and became No. 1 in the world. That doesn’t add up to a tennis decision,” he tweeted.

Osaka beat Petra Kvitova in three sets in the Australian Open final on Jan. 26.

That added to her championship at the US Open last September, when she defeated Serena Williams in straight sets.

Those back-to-back victories made Osaka the first woman to win two major championships in a row since Williams picked up four straight in 2014-15.

Naomi Osaka after her Australian Open triumph. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Naomi Osaka after her Australian Open triumph. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Osaka became the youngest woman to make her debut at No. 1 since Wozniacki at 20 in 2010 and the first tennis player from Asia to reach the top of the women’s or men’s tennis rankings.

She was born in Japan — her mother is Japanese, her father is Haitian — and moved to the United States when she was 3.

She has dual citizenship and now is based in Florida.

with agencies