An individual wields their racket within the confines of a tennis court, but for Sascha Bajin it’s a collective effort, joining your athlete for every twist and turn on the Grand Slam rollercoaster. It’s ride or die together.
The German has worked with some of the finest modern players in the game; a hitting partner for the likes of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and coaching Naomi Osaka to her first two Grand Slam titles.
I want to think that I'm a pretty positive guy. I enjoy what I do
His current client, Karolina Pliskova, has surged into a first Wimbledon final with devastating efficiency and the Czech has thanked her coach on numerous occasions for lifting her morale after a fluctuating 2021.
“I want to think that I'm a pretty positive guy. I enjoy what I do. Even though we all live in a bubble, but there's no other place on earth I'd rather be than in Wimbledon, even first day, second day, doesn't matter,” said the 36-year-old.
“It's something that comes over time, that she enjoys working out. Generally I do all the workouts with my athletes together. Even if it's the gym, I like to stay in shape.
“But I'm a ride-or-die type of guy. Maybe it helps her that she sees there's someone who's suffering with me. It starts on the way over to the courts, we have an hour bus ride. I don't want her to look at the phone. We say, ‘OK, you and me, we both don't look at the phone'. It's not really good for your equilibrium. But we pull together and I hope that makes it more fun for her.”
On court she can seem kind of cold. Off court she's non-stop laughing, smiling, cracking jokes. She's super easy-going, low maintenance, just very fun to be around
Pliskova, through to face world No.1 Ashleigh Barty for the title on Saturday, is an easy player to coach, enabling Bajin to work in tandem with the No.8 seed.
“I think Karolina, being a former world No.1, she's a huge name in tennis, she's incredibly humble. She has a total different on-court personality than off court, which makes my job also a lot more fun I have to say,” added Bajin.
“On court she can seem kind of cold. Off court she's non-stop laughing, smiling, cracking jokes. She's super easy-going, low maintenance, just very fun to be around.”
The professional relationship sounds near perfection as Bajin looks to unlock Pliskova’s Grand Slam potential.
On the circuit the world No.13 is considered one of the best players yet to lift a Grand Slam trophy. “The problem becomes if you want something so much, it's just as bad as not wanting it enough. It kind of paralyses you and it looks like you don't care, when it's the complete opposite,” explained the German, throwing the ‘match by match’ mantra out the window.
The problem becomes if you want something so much, it's just as bad as not wanting it enough. It kind of paralyses you and it looks like you don't care, when it's the complete opposite
“This time I was telling her, ‘Listen, you're going to win this, you're going to be here for two weeks'. I wanted to put that in her mind every day with a tiny little input. At least it worked.”
Bajin admits he has been perplexed why Pliskova had never gone beyond the fourth round at the All England Club until this summer.
She has previously been prolific on grass courts heading into Wimbledon: she was champion at Eastbourne (2017 and 2019) and in Nottingham (2016).
Saying that, it’s the first time since 2014 that Pliskova arrived in SW19 without a match win on the surface, losing openers in Berlin and Eastbourne.
Pliskova revealed her “dream” this Wimbledon was to make the second week, crediting Bajin with forcing her to strive for more.
“I don't want to sound cocky or anything like that, but if I don't believe in my player, then I must be doing something wrong,” continued the Czech’s coach.
“We aim for big results. Maybe this time I was a little bit more vocal. I don't know why. It was after that first match against Zidansek. She was 2-5 down first set and something happened. It's very hard for me to explain. I saw something change. She got up off the chair, different look in her eyes, like a different player.
“From that day I told her every day that we're going to be here two weeks later having this conversation.”
Barty will walk on to Centre Court having prevailed in their past three encounters (5-2 overall), most recently taking a three-set tussle in Stuttgart.
“It's going to be tough because she puts a lot of variety in,” added Bajin, who started coaching Pliskova in November 2020.
“It's just going to be about managing Karolina's nerves I think in the first place. But good thing is for us, at least, Ash has also not been in a Wimbledon finals and I hope she's going to be a little bit nervous, too. We'll see tomorrow.”
I don't want to sound cocky or anything like that, but if I don't believe in my player, then I must be doing something wrong
Rising to the occasion, Bajin wants Pliskova to play with purpose and authority on Centre Court.
“Most important is that she plays to win, that she believes in her weapons. If a lot is on the line, people tend to get nervous and tend to get tight. I don't want her to think about not missing, not making it, but use the big weapons you have, really try to play aggressive.”
Time to ride or die.
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