Naomi Osaka did not hang around in the wake of her split with former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Just days after the former world No 1 confirmed the end of her 10-month partnership with the Frenchman, Osaka has been spotted working with Tomasz Wiktorowski in Montreal.
One of the most experienced and successful coaches of recent years, is Wiktorowski the man to guide Osaka back up towards the top of the sport?
We take you through all you need to know about the man looking to revitalise the four-time Grand Slam champion’s fortunes.
Pre-coaching life
Born in Warsaw in 1981, Wiktorowski started playing tennis as a child and briefly pursued a career as junior, playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in the late 1990s.
After halting his tennis career, he then went to study at the Warsaw University of Technology, graduating in 2005.
However, tennis remained one of Wiktorowski’s main passions, and in 2009 he began serving as Poland’s Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) captain.
Outside of his coaching work, Wiktorowski has also worked as a TV pundit back in Poland.
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Coaching career
Amid his role as Poland’s Fed Cup captain, Wiktorowski first gained prominence due to his seven-year coaching partnership with Agnieszka Radwanska.
He first started coaching Radwanska in mid 2011 and remained with his compatriot until 2018, a period in which the WTA star became one of the leading players of her generation.
Under Wiktorowski’s guidance, Radwanska reached the Wimbledon final in 2012 and won the WTA Finals in 2015, alongside climbing to world No 2 in the WTA Rankings.
Having stood down as Poland’s Fed Cup captain in 2016, Wiktorowski began working with then-rising star Olga Danilovic in 2019 – after Radwanska’s retirement the previous season.
His partnership with Danilovic was ultimately short-lived due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though he returned to coaching at the end of 2021.
Wiktorowski joined the entourage of Iga Swiatek as the Pole’s new head coach and helped guide her to some of the greatest heights of her career.
With Wiktorowski as her coach, Swiatek spent 125 weeks as the world No 1 and won four Grand Slam titles, including three straight triumphs at Roland Garros from 2022-2024.
He also helped guide Swiatek to the 2023 WTA Finals and a historic 37-match win streak in 2022, with a total of 19 WTA Tour titles won during the partnership.
Swiatek and Wiktorowski parted ways last Autumn, and she is now working with Wim Fissette – a former coach of Osaka’s.
What will he and Osaka work on?
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion and knows how to win big titles, though she has struggled to build significant runs of form since her comeback from maternity leave in 2024.
The Japanese has struggled with fitness concerns, though she has also suffered a lot of defeats in tight three-set matches, and one of Wiktorowski’s priorities will likely be to address this in some way.
Osaka’s game style is not necessarily comparable to either Radwanska or Swiatek, meaning she offers the experienced coach a different kind of challenge.
However, considering the success he has had in his career, Wiktorowski could well be the person to bring out the best in her.
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