Sister switch - World No. 1 Osaka hires Venus’ ex-hitting partner after split with Serena’s ex-coach

Tennis world number one Naomi Osaka has teamed up with Venus Williams’ former hitting partner Jermaine Jenkins, who joined her staff after the 21-year-old split with Venus' sister Serena’s ex-coach, Sascha Bajin.

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On Wednesday, the Japanese two-time Grand Slam winner posted on social media welcoming Jenkins, who was recently appointed as the United States Tennis Association (USTA) national coach for women’s tennis, as a new member of her team.

“Had a great dinner with the team. Also taking this moment to thank Jermaine for joining us and coming on board,” the 21-year-old wrote on Twitter.

The 34-year-old tennis specialist had a successful run working with Venus Williams several years ago helping her to reach the finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017.

Jenkins replaced Bajin, with whom Osaka abruptly parted ways just two weeks after her triumph at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where she defeated Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the final of the season-opening Grand Slam, adding to her success last year at the US Open.

Banjin, who used to work as a hitting partner with all-time tennis great Serena Williams, had helped the Japanese talent win two back-to-back Grand Slam titles and climb from 68th position to reach the summit of the WTA rankings.

However, despite their fruitful partnership, Osaka decided to split from the German specialist saying that her personal happiness was more important than on-court success.

“The biggest thing is I don't want myself to think to be successful I have to put success over happiness, because if I'm not happy being around certain people I'm not going to torture myself," she said at the time.

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However, her first tournament without Bajin didn’t go as smoothly as expected, as Osaka was knocked in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, sensationally losing to Kristina Mladenovic of France.