WTA: Karolina Pliskova brings Sascha Bajin into the team
The world number six Karolina Pliskova has got prominent reinforcements for 2021.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 28, 2020, 08:53 am
The tweet was short and sweet: "TEAM PLISKOVA 2021" tweeted the Czech on Friday evening, followed by a photo, and you had to click on it first to see the really exciting new pairing.
Sascha Bajin will be the new Pliskova coach in 2021. A surprise? Not necessarily. Bajin has been back on the market since September , and experience has shown that it is never long. And Pliskova: Only recently announced her separation from Daniil Vallverdu .
Sascha Bajin: Greatest successes with Naomi Osaka
Bajin has coached many top players in recent years. After eight years as a sparring partner of Serena Williams, in 2015 he switched to Victoria Azarenka, after which he worked for Sloane Stephens, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, Kristina Mladenovic and most recently Dayana Yastremska.
He made major improvements to almost all players - in particular, he brought Osaka from world number 72 to victories in Indian Wells and the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019 - and to the top of the world rankings. The breakup shortly afterwards came as a surprise, neither of them spoke about the reasons .
Pliskova: Will she finally win "her" Grand Slam tournament with Bajin?
At Osaka he placed particular emphasis on improved footwork and smarter defensive behavior - especially with the former, as is well known, Pliskova still has room for improvement.
The 28-year-old has been at the forefront of the world for years, in 2017 she was number 1. At the Grand Slam tournaments, however, there is a problem, based on her other successes: "Only" one major final (US Open 2016, defeat against Angelique Kerber) has so far reached Pliskova, plus two semi-finals (Australian Open 2019, French Open 2017). Will the longed-for title finally be added in 2021?