The tennis world is no stranger to drama, and now, the buzz has shifted off the court! From racquet-smashing meltdowns to fiery exchanges with fans and players, the sport saw its fair share of action this year. But now, a new battle is brewing—and the spotlight isn’t on a player but a coach! Naomi Osaka’s former coach Sascha Bajin has stirred up the tennis community by making a bold move to call out another coach, accusing him of making false claims. Talk about a plot twist!
The German tennis coach took to his Instagram account to lash out at another professional tennis coach, Julius Gavin, whose Instagram handle goes by the name of Tennis God. In a video statement issued by Bajin, he called out Gavin over his claim of making any athlete, even though outside of the tennis world, a pro in the sport in just seven days. Bajin accused him of making false promises and interestingly invited him for a unique challenge.
Speaking in the video, Bajin said, “I have to do this post. This is about tennis god and his post, and his claim that he made that he can take a non-tennis player and in his 30s and 40s, and turn them into a pro-tennis player in just 7 days.” He highlighted that while he was supposed to “have a debate with him already on certain things that we don’t agree on,” he has decided not to engage any more since he cannot argue with people who are not open-minded enough. “He calls himself tennis god, I thought that was just a gimmick but now in his last video, he also said that he is the greatest tennis coach on planet Earth. So that does not scream open mindset for me.” Continuing further, he made serious allegations against Gavin of misleading not just other athletes but also the budding players and their parents.
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“You are preying on people, you are selling them something that is not real. You are a con artist and you’re a salesman, so I am here to expose you,” Bajin said in the video. He further challenged him in a unique battle. “What I am gonna do is, I am gonna put whatever amount you can come up with. I am gonna put 10 times the amount into a joint account, whatever amount it is.” Explaining himself, Bajin clarified that if Gavin is willing to put in $10,000 dollars, he will multiply it by ten times and put in $100,000.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sascha Aleksandar Bajin (@bigsascha)
“If you do believe in yourself and your skills so much, I am not gonna give you one week, but I’ll give you two weeks. I’ll give you two weeks to rewrite your program, and we are gonna put that money into a joint account and we can take a non-tennis player that you claim, a non-tennis player is gonna play against me,” Bajin challenged Gavin – highlighting that the battle can take place around the Miami Open in March next year. He called himself not a pro player, sharing that defeating him can be easy for any pro athlete, and with Gavin making such a claim, it can be easy for any of his mentees to carry out the task.
Remember, this comes after Gavin took to his Instagram account last week and made a surprising claim. “I can take any athlete and turn them into a tennis pro in 7 days. Even if you’re in your 30s or 40s. I’m the No.1 tennis coach in the entire world,” he said in the video. This, however, is not the first time when Bajin has lashed out at him over the claims.
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As soon as the video was out, Bajin took to the comment section and wrote, “I’ve never heard anything more wrong in this industry then this. You’re really giving people false hope and should be held accountable for that. Show me one player you made turn pro please. Honestly man just tone it down please.” Interestingly, Bajin is known for calling issues on tennis circuits and has even bashed tournament organizers in the past.
When Naomi Osaka’s former coach lashed out at Eastbourne tournament
Sascha Bajin has never shied away from expressing himself and one such moment came at the Eastbourne International last year when Bajin coached Karolina Pliskova. Expressing his frustration, Bajin slammed the tournament organizers for not having an electronic line calling on its second-biggest court, during a match between Pliskova and Daria Kasatkina.
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During the match, Kasatkina hit the ball long which fell outside the line but it was missed by the linesmen. This resulted in Pliskova losing a crucial point, and eventually the match. Taking to his Instagram story, Bajin expressed his anger and wrote, “That was 3:3 & 30:40 so pretty big point in the third set. Pitty that a WTA 500- event does not have Hawkeye on their second biggest court”. And yet again, he is back at slamming unexpectedness on the tennis circuits.
For now, what remains interesting to be seen is whether “tennis god” Julius Gavin will accept Bajin’s challenge and engage in a battle as proposed by the German coach.