Tennis Today: Pundits discuss Naomi Osaka coach split and cannot agree
In Tennis Today, pundits debate the mysterious split between Naomi Osaka and Sascha Bajin, but can only agree on one thing – that it’s a real shame.
What’s on the site
If you’re a Juan Martin del Potro fan, we have something of a good-news-bad-news thing going on for you today.
The bad news is that Delpo has suffered yet more injury heartbreak, and it’s wholly demoralising.
On the plus side, though, he Michael Graham has declared the Argentinian gentle giant to be the most likable player in tennis today, which we know doesn’t offer a tremendous amount of consolation, but it cheered self-confessed Delpo fanboy Michael up, so there is that.
Del Potro is probably on Michael’s own list of ‘what makes tennis great’, but for now we are focusing on the first of our many reasons – tennis mavericks!
Shot-clock, meanwhile, may not feature in many players’ lists of great things about modern tennis, but they’d better get used to it as it appears to be here to stay.
What’s in the news
Jim Courier has defended Naomi Osaka over her unexpected split from coach Sascha Bajin.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel, Courier responded to Chris Evert’s suggestion that money was behind the pair’s split, saying he believed there was something more personal at the heart of it.
“It was strange to read the transcript after the finals when she was asked what did Sascha tell you before the match”, Courier said.
“She said, ‘oh well frankly we have not been saying much, he maybe gave me one thing’.
“There was something going on there, there was a lot of discussion among the pundit class about it, maybe it was a financial issue but she certainly batted that away when she was asked about it in her first tournament back.
“So just seemed like the relationship fractured at some point to when we were at the US Open last year.
“Doing TC live and we had the cameras on and in the US Open warm-up room Sascha was dancing and we had so much fun with it.
“They were having so much fun with it, and it’s just sad that they lost that love and feeling.”
What’s on social media
Gael Monfils took a philosophical, if a little scientifically inaccurate, view of his Indian Wells retirement.
Respects were aplenty for one of the key figures in British tennis, who has sadly passed.
Johanna Konta has wasted no time in returning to the scene of her greatest triumph.
And Naomi Osaka turned up the sass.
What’s on TV
ATP Indian Wells
LIVE – Amazon Prime Video
WTA Indian Wells
LIVE – BT Sport 1 / BT Sport ESPN Extra 5
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