Naomi Osaka's first match since splitting with her coach ended with a humiliating defeat

Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images

Naomi Osaka.

• Naomi Osaka just lost her first match since splitting with her coach Sascha Bajin.
• The 21-year-old, who had just won the 2019 Australian Open, has just been dumped out of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the very first round.
• Osaka was humiliatingly beaten in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 by the unseeded French player Kristina Mladenovic.

Naomi Osaka suffered a humiliating defeat in her first match since splitting from her coach Sascha Bajin.

Osaka's shock announcement that she had parted ways with Bajin stunned the tennis industry last week. The New York Times tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg even wrote that "the reasons for the split were unclear," adding that the news was "surprising."

Osaka and Bajin enjoyed a wildly successful ride in women's tennis, but ahead of the Dubai Tennis Championships this week Osaka said she left the trainer because she did not want to sacrifice her own happiness.

Her first round match against Kristina Mladenovic would be the first time Osaka played since sacking Bajin, and her first match since winning the 2019 Australian Open, last month.

But, for Osaka, the Mladenovic match on center court at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre could not have gotten any worse. She lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

More to follow…