Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has been pictured training alongside successful coach Patrick Mouratoglou less than 24 hours after announcing her coaching split with Wim Fissette.
Osaka and Fissette shared a successful player-coach relationship across two stints, claiming two majors at the 2020 US Open and 2021 Australian Open.
However, recent results have left the Japanese star frustrated, sending a message via her social media accounts to announce the decision.
"Four years, two Slams and a whole lot of memories. Thanks Wim for being a great coach and an even greater person. Wishing you all the best," Osaka wrote on Instagram.
Fissette, who previously coached the likes of Kim Clijsters, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep, wrote his own Instagram post as he accepted the decision.
"We were very close to a breakthrough," the Belgian wrote.
"When you do the right things and keep hearing from peers you are in the right direction, it's tough not quite getting it yet. As the coach, you keep trusting the process, knowing the lessons are getting you closer to the trophies.
"After the US Open, Naomi decided to move forward with a new path. I accepted it knowing we close this second run with more good memories and gratitude for building her way back."
Shortly after the public announcement, a photo was taken of Osaka training at UCLA in Los Angeles with Mouratoglou watching from the sideline.
Mouratoglou, former coach of Serena Williams, Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, runs the 'Mouratoglou Tennis Academy' in France.
The 54-year-old is the current coach of world No.14 Holger Rune.
Last year, two-time major winner and former world No.1 Simona Halep revealed in a bombshell interview that Mouratoglou, her previous coach, was responsible for her positive drug test and ruining her career.
"I’m sure it wasn’t done intentionally and I’m grateful he admits the mistake was his and his team's," Halep told Paris Match.
"They are the ones who gave me this food supplement. And for this error – their error – I am the only one to pay the high price. 25 years of [my] career destroyed."
An official statement is yet to be confirmed concerning the rumoured coaching partnership between Osaka and Mouratoglou.
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