Tennis seems to be turning into a hotbed of controversy lately, with headlines buzzing more about off-court drama than on-court triumphs. And right now, all eyes are on Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis star who’s no stranger to shaking things up. But this time, it’s her coaching decisions that have stunned the tennis world, sparking a wave of reactions—some supportive, others not so much.

The former World No. 1 made a shocking decision after she announced a split with her former coach Wim Fissette. Taking to her Instagram, Osaka wrote, “Thanks Wim for being a great coach and an even greater person. Wishing you all the best.” While Osaka has not made any official confirmation yet about her new coach, she was spotted practicing with Patrick Mouratoglou at the UCLA tennis courts, making a big statement.

The news was shared by an X user who wrote, “👀 @pmouratoglou and naomi training at UCLA.” This comes in the backdrop of a subpar season for Osaka. She faced second-round exits at all the Grand Slam tournaments she played this year, except the Australian Open, where she was ousted in the first round.

While it’s totally up to Osaka who she wants as her coach, Several fans, surprisingly, lashed out at the Japanese star for her decision and accused her of imitating Serena Williams.

“This woman is such a copy cat” – Fans unhappy over Naomi Osaka’s latest coaching move

Taking to X, one user wrote, “Naomi wants to be Serena so bad 😭😭” Remember Mouratoglou trained Serena Williams for almost a decade between 2012 and 2022 and helped her win many Grand Slam titles during that period. Now that Osaka is partnering with Mouratoglou, fans are speculating that she also wishes to receive similar success and hence, is trying hard to be like Serena. Well, there is nothing wrong in that, if Osaka wants to be as successful as Serena.

Responding to the post, another user wrote, “My goodness This woman is such a copycat cosplayer❗️ She owes Serena royalties‼️ it’s giving “Single [Asian] Female.” Osaka has often captured headlines for allegedly copying Serena. When Nike shared a picture of the Japanese player ahead of her return to the courts at the Australian Open this season, her black outfit resembled what Serena wore ahead of her retirement. Several fans lashed at her back then as well and accused her of copying Serena.

Interestingly, Osaka has often expressed her high regard for Williams. Ahead of the French Open this year, she said, “You know there’s like a hallway to the gym that has all the champions. I see Serena and Sharapova on there. It makes me very inspired.” Osaka wouldn’t be the only athlete Serena would have inspired. There would be many like her and why not? The kind of success Serena achieved coming from a modest background, she is the perfect role model to look up to.

Meanwhile, one netizen wrote on X, “Another reason to enjoy watching her lose 👊.” Remember, Osaka has witnessed major roadblocks throughout the season. She not only failed to go deep into the major tournaments, but she also faced exits as early as the qualifier rounds, as happened at the Cincinnati Masters.

Yet another X user responded in a similar tone. “No way she got him as her coach 😭😭,” Mouratoglou has sometimes captured headlines for the wrong reasons as well. One of his appearances on CNN post Coco Gauff’s US Open triumph last year stirred a controversy as some fans thought he was taking credit for Gauff’s success. Despite Gauff taking some advice from the Frenchman, she never hired him as his official coach. 

One more user simply expressed their disagreement and wrote, “I’m not ready to accept this yet.” As the season continues, it will be interesting to see if Naomi Osaka puts an end to these controversies with her performance thereby proving her partnership with the French coach fruitful. What do you think?