BEIJING – Naomi Osaka has never hidden her admiration for Serena Williams. But when the opportunity to work with Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou arose, Osaka admitted she was hesitant.

Beijing: Results | Playing order | Pulls

“I think the fact that he was Serena’s coach made me want to avoid him because his personality is so big,” Osaka said at the China Open. “That’s not rude because I found out it wasn’t true, but I didn’t know if he was a good coach or if he coached Serena.”

“Then I met him, talked to him and worked with him on the pitch. He’s really a really good coach. I’m really happy that he’s taking on this project too.”

On Wednesday, the partnership began with a solid win at the China Open. Osaka returned to the event for the first time since winning the title in 2019 and started her Asian tour with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 77 Lucia Bronzetti in the first round.

Osaka announced the end of her coaching partnership with Wim Fissette after the US Open and began training with Mouratoglou ahead of the Asian Swing. The former No. 1, who enters this week ranked 73rd in the world, hopes this is a long-term partnership. Her split with Fissette is nothing personal, Osaka reiterated, but the opportunity to work with Mouratoglou, who coached Williams to 10 major titles from 2012 to 2022, is a chance she could pass up.

“I think I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t want to have any regrets,” Osaka said. “I’d rather tackle something and – I don’t want to say ‘fail’ – but I feel like I really need to learn as much as I can at this stage of my career. Patrick seemed like the guy with the information I wanted to learn from.”

In her first match since New York, Osaka recovered from a break in the first set to defeat Bronzetti for the second time this season. The two also faced each other at Roland Garros, where Osaka prevailed in three close sets.

“I’m glad to be able to play on this court again,” Osaka said on the court, “and I hope to be able to lift a trophy again soon.”

Bronzetti made the first break of the match and led Osaka 3-2 in the first set, but the Italian was unable to consolidate the break. After breaking to 3-3, Osaka bravely fended off two break points and held on to a 4-3 deficit.

From there, it was a steep uphill climb for the four-time major champion. Osaka hit 15 winners in the first set, Bronzetti three, and dropped just one game in the rest of the 1 hour and 23 minute match, repeatedly overwhelming Bronzetti from the baseline.

Osaka finished the match with 30 winners and 22 unforced errors, holding Bronzetti to seven winners and ten unforced errors. Osaka made just seven unforced errors in the second set.

The final six weeks of the Hologic WTA Tour season will be an important stretch for Osaka, who returned to the tour in January after maternity leave. Her goal, she says, is to be seeded by the Australian Open in January, a reasonable target given the number of ranking points on the table until October. With her first-round win in Beijing, she is close to returning to the top 50.

“I think for me the Asian Swing is full of opportunities,” Osaka said. “I’ve always done really well at the end of the year. I always look forward to it. Especially with the two tournaments in Japan, it’s the time for me to dig deep and try to get really good results.”

Osaka next faces a tough second-round match against 21st seed Yulia Putintseva. Putintseva has won three of her five encounters, while Osaka has won the last two, including a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory at the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this year.