Florida, March 1: World number one Naomi Osaka hired Jermaine Jenkins, former hitting partner to Venus Williams, as her new head coach. The 21-year-old Japanese player took Twitter to confirm the hiring. "Had a great dinner with the team. Also taking this moment to thank Jermaine for joining us and coming on board lol," Osaka wrote. Jermaine, who is a former All American collegiate star at Clemson University, served with Venus from 2015 until the end of last season. His brother Jarmere is currently Serena Williams' hitting partner.

Earlier in January, Jermaine was named as a national coach for women's tennis by the USTA Player Development. The reigning Australian Open champion's announcement comes two weeks after her decision to part ways with coach Sascha Bajin. "After this tournament I would want to start looking at people. It is not really ideal to go to Indian Wells without a coach," Women's Tennis Association (WTA) quoted Osaka, as saying last week during the Dubai Tennis Championships. Naomi Osaka Wins Australian Open 2019, Beats Petra Kvitova in the Final 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4; Becomes WTA World No 1.

Jermaine will join a team including fitness trainer Abdul Sallah, physiotherapist Kristy Stahr, and Osaka's father Leonard Francois. The Japanese player is scheduled to play the Indian Wells Masters, where she is the defending champion.

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