**Speaking of talented players, the tennis world had high hopes for your coaching partnership with Naomi Osaka. Why did it end after 10 months?**
The results weren’t good enough, which completely made sense. I think we did a lot of good things but, at least from a coaching standpoint, the one thing that you don’t master can ruin the whole thing. I think she improved so much, I was seeing it on a daily basis. And her mindset was great. But she was not performing well enough during the matches, so that was the one piece that was ruining the whole thing.
Looking back, I didn’t do a good enough job, otherwise the results would have been there. I also think that having me as a coach was a bit heavy for her, in regards to what I did with Serena for many years. She mentioned it a few times actually, even publicly – and I didn’t find a way to take that pressure away. I think maybe that’s why she wasn’t performing. As soon as I was not in the loop, she felt probably lighter. By not having that pressure, she could express her tennis more freely. But there are no hard feelings. She’s a great competitor.
**She may have fallen short of winning a third US Open, but she does have a lot to be proud of for making it as far as she did. What did you make of her tournament and prospects going forward?**
First of all, you have to speak about what Naomi did in the last two tournaments. She was also in the finals at Montreal, and that was a very close match that could’ve gone her way. I think she’s back to playing at an extremely high level and the performance she showed in these last two tournaments are quite clear. So that’s great news. I’m not surprised at all because I know how much effort she put in. When we split, I told her agent she was 100% ready – which I felt because her practice level was consistent and extremely high. She needed these breakthroughs, which she had quite fast, to probably realize that she was able to play with the best and beat them. For women’s tennis to have Naomi back in the mix is amazing. She’s one of the most iconic players of the last five years.