Sascha
Bajin, former hitting partner of
Victoria Azarenka, criticized the Belarusian
on social media and received reactions from fans. The German coach served as
Serena Williams' hitting partner for 8 years before working with players like
Sloane Stephens,
Caroline Wozniacki, and Azarenka.
The
two-time Australian Open champion had a good showing at the
Rome Open,
advancing to the quarterfinals with a convincing victory over world No. 8 Maria
Sakkari (6-4, 6-1). However, Azarenka fell short against
Danielle Collins (No.
15), who has won 19 of her last 20 matches.
Who is Sascha Bajin?
39-year-old
Bajin began his coaching career with
Naomi Osaka in 2017, accompanying her to
her first two Grand Slam titles at the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open.
He later worked with
Kristina Mladenovic,
Dayana Yastremska, and former world
No. 1
Karolina Pliskova.
In March,
the German teamed up with Alycia Parks, but their partnership didn't last long,
as they were only together for two tournaments. After being eliminated in the
qualifying rounds of the
Miami Open, they decided to split, something that
Bajin recently confirmed on his social media, stating that it was due to
differences in their working methods.
Azarenka's
altercation with her coach
During the match with Collins, the 24th seed found
herself struggling against the high level displayed by the American. With the
score at 4-6, 1-4, cameras captured the moment when Azarenka yelled visibly
frustrated at her coach Maxime Tchoutakian: "What do you want me to come
on? What do you want me to come on?"
The moment
was shared by a user on social media, and Azarenka's former hitting partner
commented ironically on the video: "Yeah she is such a nice person,"
Bajin wrote with a 'rolling eyes' emoji.
Quickly, several fans reacted
to Bajin's words: "I
know youβre not coming for Vika !! Still bitter that she [Azarenka]
fired you ?? Maybe become a better coach and more importantly a better person
so you can find some stability on tour instead of relying on ur history with
Serena to continue getting coaching jobs," a fan wrote.
"See
now youβre just being a messy bottom. Grow up," wrote another.
βWow
Sascha. As a former coach. That is really going low!
βSays the
person who none of your ex players have got anything nice to say aboutβ¦β¦β