Fans rally in defense of Azarenka after Bajin's sarcastic social media comment

WTA
Thursday, 16 May 2024 at 19:30
screenshot 2024 05 15 at 223512

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 you’re 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 you’re just being a messy bottom. Grow up," wrote another.

β€œWow Sascha. As a former coach. That is really going low!

β€œSays the person who none of your ex players have got anything nice to say about……”

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