Naomi Osaka, the former world no.1, ever since the start of the 2022 season, has been making headlines for her struggles, both on and off the court. Recently, she split with her long-time coach Wim Fissette. After working together for two years, Osaka and Fissette announced their split last month.

Being out of the game due to tendinitis on her left Achilles, Osaka refrained from commenting about her new coach during that time. However, recovering from the injury, the 4-time Grand Sllam Champion is back in action for the North American swing. Not to mention, with a new coach. Her father, Leonard Francois.

Naomi Osaka cherishes coaching with father

Going back in time, one can recall Francois as the person getting Osaka and her sister into tennis during her childhood. Inspired by the father of Venus and Serena Williams, Richard Williams, Francois became the first coach of Osaka. Moving ahead in time, Francois served as the primary coach of Osaka until 2018.

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Having her father back in her coaching team after four years, the 4-time champion seems nothing less than overjoyed. Talking to the media, she admitted, “I wanted to bring my dad back because he always makes me think outside the box.”

Opening up about her father’s influence on her, Osaka further asserted, “Whenever I think something is really bad he always makes me realize that things are much more positive than they seem.”

“When I get stressed out he starts dancing or something to make me feel better,” she further added.

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As mentioned earlier, Francois was the one who introduced Osaka to tennis. Similar to Richard Williams, Francois also trained her daughter to be the best player in the world. Even though Osaka has worked with a handful of other coaches in her nascent career, it goes without saying that she continues to have a strong connection with her father.

Going ahead in the conversation, she ended by saying, “It’s just nice to have him around and it makes me remember the times when I was a kid. For right now, he would be my main coach. I would give him that title.”

Can Osaka’s father help her regain her form and lead her to an unexpected 5th Grand Slam title at the US Open?