"I wish I had more time to find a solution to her problems," Mouratoglou reflects on the end of his collaboration with Osaka

Adrien Guyot

le 06/08/2025 à 11h21

2 min to read

Osaka

At the end of July, just before the start of the WTA 1000 in Montreal, Naomi Osaka and Patrick Mouratoglou ended their partnership, which began last year. The French coach was unable to help the Japanese player regain her best form.

A few days later, the former world No. 1 reached the semifinals in Quebec, defeating players like Samsonova, Ostapenko, and Svitolina. In an interview with CNN, Mouratoglou looked back on the conclusion of his journey with the four-time Grand Slam champion.

"I wish I had more time to find a solution to her problems. But we couldn’t—that’s life. I have no regrets because that’s the rule when you work at the highest level.

Time is important, and you have to find solutions quickly. Time might have been the key we were missing. When we stopped, I told her: ‘You’re ready. If you find the right person to help you regain your efficiency, you’ll get very good results very quickly.’ I hope that happens very soon.

The mental aspect is a crucial part of this sport—maybe even the most important. I think it’s essential to have coaches who can help their players in that regard.

Am I a mental coach? I don’t think so, because when you’re a coach, there’s a whole technical side to work on. Tennis is complex. The mental game is critical, but so is the physical side. Every player brings different challenges that you have to solve.

Otherwise, they’d all already be No. 1. If they’re not, and they’re far from the top, it means there are several things to work on, and you have to help them in that direction.

My goal is to have all the tools available to help players improve in any area. Maybe I’ve gotten better at the mental aspect, but I also hope to be effective in other areas as well," Mouratoglou said recently.