Aleksandar "Sascha" Bajin (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Бајин; born 4 October 1984) is a German tennis coach and former player of Serbian origin.

Sascha Bajin
Full nameAleksandar Bajin
Country (sports) Germany
Born (1984-10-04) October 4, 1984 (age 40)
Serbia,[1] Yugoslavia
Prize money$2,054
Singles
Highest ranking1149
Doubles
Highest ranking1180
Coaching career (2017–)
Naomi Osaka (2017–2019)
Kristina Mladenovic (2019)
Dayana Yastremska (2019–2020)
Karolína Plíšková (2020–Jul 2022, 2023)
Alycia Parks (2024)
Coaching achievements
Coachee singles titles total3
List of notable tournaments
(with champion)

US Open (Osaka)
Australian Open (Osaka)

Coaching awards and records
Awards
Last updated on: 21 July 2022.

Biography

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He is best known as the former hitting partner of Serena Williams when she won several of her major title wins; and for coaching Naomi Osaka to two Grand Slam titles, one at the 2018 US Open and one at the 2019 Australian Open. He won the inaugural WTA Coach of the Year award in 2018 for coaching Osaka to her first two titles, the US Open and the Indian Wells Open.[2] Osaka split with Bajin shortly after her Australian Open title.[3]

In April 2019, he began working with Kristina Mladenovic.[4] He split with Mladenovic in October 2019 and started coaching Dayana Yastremska.[5] In September 2020 they split after Yastremska had a disappointing performance in the 2020 US Open.[6]

From November 2020 to July 2022, Bajin coached Karolína Plíšková.[7][8] She reached the 2021 Wimbledon Championships final under his tutelage. The two reunited in December 2022 for the 2023 season.[9] He briefly coached Alycia Parks in the beginning of 2024 during the Sunshine double.[10]

Bajin had previously served as a hitting partner for Serena Williams for eight years, and then was a hitting partner for Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens, and Caroline Wozniacki.[11] Bajin had a brief career on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, reaching career high rankings of 1149 in singles and 1180 in doubles.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Profil – Aleksandar Bajin". sueddeutsche.de (in German). 9 September 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Naomi Osaka's coach, Sascha Bajin, named WTA Coach of the Year". ESPN. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Did Naomi Osaka suggest not everything was rosy with her coach before their shock split?". news.com.au. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Mladenovic officially adds former Osaka coach Sascha Bajin to team". WTA. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  5. ^ Ubha, Ravi (16 January 2020). "Adelaide finalist Dayana Yastremska and Sascha Bajin are dreaming big". Tennis.com. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  6. ^ https://www.wtatennis.com/news/1820488/yastremska-reveals-bajin-split-following-us-open
  7. ^ WTA tennis News
  8. ^ "Další radikální krok Plíškové! Končí i trenér Bajin". ČTK. 11 July 2022.
  9. ^ https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2978242/pliskova-coach-sascha-bajin-reunite-for-2023
  10. ^ "Sascha Bajin ends coaching partnership with Alycia Parks following disappointing run". 15 May 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Sascha Bajin". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Alexsander Bajin". ATP Tour. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
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