Grapevine

Naomi Osaka teams up with Serena’s former coach

Former world number one Osaka, now ranked 73, defeated Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA 1000 China Open with the Frenchman Mouratoglou in her players’ box.

The 26-year-old Osaka split from Belgian coach Wim Fissette this month as she attempts to return to the form that propelled her to the top of the women’s game.

Japan’s Osaka said she “felt like I needed a change” and described Mouratoglou, who is best known as Williams’ long-time former coach, as “a big persona”.

“I like the way he coaches. I think it’s going to be really interesting,” she said in Beijing after setting up a second-round meeting with 21st seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

“I think I’m at a stage in my life that I don’t want to have regrets. I’d rather pull the trigger on something and I don’t want to say ‘fail’, but I feel like I really need to learn as much as possible in this stage of my career.