SINGAPORE - Sascha Bajin says the key to Naomi Osaka's strong season finish is simple: routine.
Since winning her maiden major at the US Open in September, Osaka went on to make the semifinals or better in her last two events of the WTA regular season, advancing to the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the semifinal of the China Open.
In fact, since snapping a three-match losing streak at the US Open, Osaka has won 14 of her last 16 matches ahead of her debut appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. That success over her last three tournaments allowed the 20-year-old to become the third woman to qualify for the WTA Finals, behind Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber.
"I think that after the US Open, we have seen in the past with a lot of players who kind of fall into a little dip after achieving such a big milestone, because it is kind of satisfying and it's something you dream of so long," Bajin told reporters ahead of the WTA Finals.
"Kerber, when she won the Australian Open, struggled for a little while. Sloane [Stephens] lost eight first-round matches, I believe, in a row. Ostapenko. Everybody kind of struggled.
"Seeing Naomi doing so well right after that in her home country, Tokyo, all the big sponsors were there, all the CEOs, and not having an easy draw, playing great players, and then immediately playing finals there was really impressive. Going back to Beijing, also, semifinals there was a really great run.
"Just seeing her, how she manages all of it, it's pretty impressive."
To cut through the potential chaos that is expected to come after such a remarkable New York fortnight, Bajin says Osaka has remained focused on the task at hand.
"I have been blessed with having worked with Serena [Williams] for so long," Bajin said. "We won 12 Grand Slams together. If we won a Grand Slam, we went back to work Monday. It was kind of expected.
"So I believe that because I was in a situation and as a coach before, if I wouldn't have, maybe I would have been super happy after reaching the semifinals or just getting to the finals.
"So even for me and my whole team, wherever we go, we have had this experience of winning titles back to back, of performing day in, day out. I believe that's the energy and vibe I can give to my player and that Naomi feeds off that, despite the fact that she's just awesome, as well."
"If you think about a 20-year-old, 21-year-old girl, winning $4 million, achieving all these things that she has achieved, going from 74 in the world to No. 4, beating her idol in the finals, it was a lot to comprehend. The way she's dealing with it is pretty remarkable. I don't think, if I was playing, I would even be in Beijing, to be honest. I would take a long vacation.
"We try to keep a focus, we try to keep our routine, and treat every day the same. Like I said, for me, it's kind of expected. I have been there with a player, winning the US Open title. Obviously I'm really happy I did it with Naomi, as well.
"But it's kind of, all right, let's go. We got Tokyo going, we got Beijing, we got this tournament. Maybe that's why sometimes she says I'm never satisfied. But I am satisfied."
After Osaka was forced to withdraw from Hong Kong due to a back injury, she and her team headed to Tokyo to begin their Singapore preparations. Osaka trained on the indoor courts at the National Tennis Center, and while the courts played slightly differently from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, he was able to track similar Wilson balls to help get her acclimated.
"I just practiced and stayed in my room and ordered room service," Osaka said of her time in Tokyo, where she and Bajin celebrated their respective birthdays. "On my birthday I went to these temples and I had dinner.
"But I didn't really do too much in Tokyo. I was just trying to focus for this tournament."
As has been the case over the last few years, the Singapore field is wide open, with favorites hard to come by. Day 1 of the tournament saw two upsets, with Elina Svitolina snapping her seven-match losing streak to Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova handing defending champion Caroline Wozniacki her first Top 10 loss of the season.
Bajin says the unpredictability is what keeps the game engaging.
"Having eight different winners at eight different Grand Slams, it's something that makes the WTA Tour very exciting to watch, [compared] to where you have always kind of like the same faces and the same winners or same semifinalists, and you have to kind of wait until it gets to that stage," Bajin said.
"But seeing now there is so much excitement even in the earlier rounds and everybody can beat everybody, I think with the younger generation coming up, it just makes it so much more exciting for the viewer and for the tour itself."
The Red Group gets underway on Monday night at the WTA Finals, with a much-anticipated showdown between Osaka and Sloane Stephens, the last two US Open champions. Bajin briefly worked with Stephens in 2016, but when he was asked to preview the match he kept things close to the vest.
"Is [Kamau] gonna see that?" Bajin asked with a laugh. "Well, I don't want to give away too much. I mean, I worked with her for a couple of months, so let's see, what can I say?
"We expect a lot of crosscourt rallies. That's all I'm gonna say. I'm not gonna say too much about it. Sorry."
