In her maiden encounter at the China Open, Japan’s Osaka defeated Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-3 6-2 under Mouratoglou, who was once Serena Williams’ longtime coach.
Earlier in September, the 26-year-old broke up with Wim Fisette, with whom she shared two of her four Grand Slam victories.
Osaka admitted that she was first apprehensive to collaborate with Mouratoglou.
“The fact that he was Serena’s coach made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big,” she stated.
“I didn’t know if he was a good man, so this isn’t rude because I found out it’s not true.
Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach.”
Osaka made her return from maternity leave in January but has struggled for consistency since.
She has reached the quarter-finals in only two of the 16 tournaments she has played this season and has not gone past the second round of a Grand Slam.
“I think I’m at a stage in my life that I don’t want to have regrets,” Osaka said of working with Mouratoglou.
“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.
