Osaka wins first match under new coach Mouratoglou in Beijing

BEIJING -- Naomi Osaka has never been shy about her worship of Serena Williams. But when the possibility opened up to work with Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Osaka admitted she was hesitant. 

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

"I think the fact that he was Serena's coach for me made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big," Osaka said at the China Open. "Like, this isn't rude because I found out it's not true, but I didn't know if he was a good coach or he coached Serena.

"Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach. I'm really glad that he's taking this project on, as well."

On Wednesday, the partnership began with a solid win at the China Open. Returning to the event for the first time since winning the title in 2019, Osaka kicked off her Asian swing with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No.77 Lucia Bronzetti in the first round.

Osaka announced the end of her coaching partnership with Wim Fissette after the US Open and began training with Mouratoglou during the leadup to the Asian Swing. The former No.1, who enters this week ranked No.73, is hoping this is a long-term partnership. Her split with Fissette was nothing personal, Osaka reiterated, but the opportunity to work with Mouratoglou, who coached Williams to 10 major titles from 2012 to 2022, was a chance she could let pass.

"I think I'm at a stage in my life that I don't want to have regrets," Osaka said. "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. Patrick seemed like the guy with I guess the information that I wanted to learn from."

In her first match since New York, Osaka steeled herself to come back from a break down in the first set to defeat Bronzetti for the second time this season. The two also faced off at Roland Garros, where Osaka prevailed in three tight sets.

"I'm glad that I'm able to be able to play on this court again," Osaka said on court, "and I hope to be able to lift a trophy again sometime soon."

Bronzetti earned the first break of the match to lead Osaka 3-2 in the first set, but the Italian failed to consolidate the break. After breaking back to 3-3, Osaka gamely saved two break points to hold to 4-3.

From there, the four-time major champion was off to the races. Osaka fired 15 winners to Bronzetti's three in the first set and dropped just one game for the remainder of the 1-hour and 23-minute match, overpowering Bronzetti repeatedly from the baseline. 

Osaka finished the match with 30 winners to 22 unforced errors, holding Bronzetti to seven winners and 10 unforced errors. Osaka struck just seven unforced errors in the second set. 

The final six weeks of the Hologic WTA Tour season will be an important stretch for Osaka, who came back to the tour in January after her maternity leave. Her goal, she says, is to be seeded by the time the Australian Open rolls around in January, a reasonable goal given the amount of ranking points on the table through October. With her first-round win in Beijing, she's closing in on a return to the Top 50.

"I think for me the Asian Swing is full of possibilities," Osaka said. "I've always done really well at the end of the year. I always look forward to it. Especially with the two tournaments in Japan, for me it's kind of the time to dig deep and try to get really good results."

Osaka faces a tough second-round matchup against 21st seed Yulia Putintseva next. Putintseva has won three of their five meetings but Osaka has won their last two, including a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory at the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this year.