Naomi Osaka splits with coach Patrick Mouratoglou
'Merci Patrick,' Osaka began her post, with a photo of her hitting a practice serve while he stands nearby. 'It was such a great experience learning from you. Wishing you nothing but the best. You are one of the coolest people I've ever met, and I'm sure I'll see you around.'
ALSO READ: De Minaur saves three match points against Davidovich Fokina to lift Washington Open title
The news comes three days after Osaka lost her second match at the D.C. Open and just before she begins competing in Toronto. The U.S. Open, the year's last major tournament and an event Osaka won twice, begins in New York on Aug. 24.
Osaka hired Mouratoglou — who was the longtime coach of Serena Williams — when she fired Wim Fissette shortly after her second-round exit at last year's U.S. Open.
Osaka, a former No. 1, is currently ranked 51st and has a 21-11 record this season.
She hasn't been past the third round at a Grand Slam tournament since winning the 2021 Australian Open.
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One of them is Jorg Bitzigeio, the German coach with whom Ankur spent three weeks training earlier this year. Much of the scepticism has to do with the Indian's maverick technique. While table tennis is a forehand-dominant sport, with the backhand playing the supporting role, Ankur is an exception. He covers most of the table with his backhand, producing both top-spin and rocket winners that breach even the best defence. His wrong-footed stance leaves his extreme forehand corner vulnerable, but he compensates with his ability to surprise opponents. He uses the jab effectively, imparts side-spin from various angles and is super-agile, reaching virtually every possible ball. The combination makes Ankur an effective, watchable proposition. This was on display time and again during Ultimate Table Tennis' sixth edition, where he justified the faith shown in him by his home franchise Kolkata ThunderBlades. 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'I have heard this a lot — rather overheard it — that he can be India's Truls, but I know I have a long way to go. Playing the men's World Championships is just the start.' Had it not been for a parental push, though, Ankur could well have followed in the footsteps of his sporting idol — Kohli. Sensing that cricket is an expensive sport even for beginners, his paddler parents directed him to a table. In less than two years after first gripping a racquet, Ankur became India No. 2 in the cadet category. There has been no looking back. Ankur's day in Kolkata, when he is not travelling the world, is consumed with table tennis. ALSO READ | Nikhat Zareen reiterates 'hunger to win medals' ahead of World Boxing Championships 'The day starts with fitness training from 8 to 10 a.m. Then a half-hour break. From 10.30 to 3 o'clock, I practise, and again in the evening from 6 to 9, I am back at the table,' he says. Mental training? 'Nothing formal yet, but I have found my own little techniques that help me.' One recent method is listening to the Hanuman Chalisa, a devotional hymn. Early in 2025, he was feeling low at the start of a WTT event in Cappadocia, Turkey. 'I wasn't playing well. Before the first match over there, I listened to it by accident and won. 'I kept on playing it before every match that week and went on to win the U-19 title, beating Benyamin Faraji [a top junior], who had entered the tournament on a high, beating a men's top-30 player in the earlier week. Since then, I play Hanuman Chalisa before every match.' It doesn't take much time to figure out that Ankur is a religious youngster. After all, his first tattoo was a depiction of 'Lord Shiva, since I am a Shiv-bhakt'. 'They have started calling me a Bengal tiger, so I recently got a tiger tattooed as well,' he says, with a sheepish smile. 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And he realises that rather than trying to make it happen — or spell out his aspirations of winning an Olympic or a Commonwealth medal — he wants to keep it simple. 'All I need to do is to keep improving and working harder with every passing day,' he says. 'If I can do that, I know I will achieve much more than what I have. The goals can keep getting revised, I am only starting now. There's a long way to go.'
