Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, with two Australian Open and two US Open titles. Her seven titles on the WTA Tour also include two at the Premier Mandatory level.
Early Life
Naomi Osaka was born on October 16, 1997, in Chūō-ku, Osaka in Japan to Tamaki Osaka (大坂 環, Ōsaka Tamaki) and Leonard François. Her mother is from Nemuro, Hokkaido, Japan, and her father is from Jacmel, Haiti. She has an older sister, Mari, who is a former professional tennis player. The two girls were given their mother’s family name for practical reasons when the family lived in Japan. Osaka’s parents met when her father was visiting Hokkaido while he was a college student in New York.
When Osaka was three years old, her family moved from Japan to Elmont, New York on Long Island to live with her father’s parents. Her father was inspired to teach his daughters how to play tennis by watching the Williams sisters compete at the 1999 French Open. Having little experience as a tennis player himself, he sought to emulate how Richard Williams trained his daughters to become two of the best players in the world, despite having never played the sport. François remarked that “the blueprint was already there. I just had to follow it,” with regard to the detailed plan Richard had developed for his daughters. He began coaching Naomi and Mari once they settled in the United States. In 2006, her family moved to Florida when she was eight or nine years old so that they would have better opportunities to train. She practiced on the Pembroke Pines public courts during the day and was homeschooled at night. When she was 15 years old, she began working with Patrick Tauma at the ISP Academy. In 2014, she moved to the Harold Solomon Tennis Academy. She later trained at the ProWorld Tennis Academy.
Although Osaka was raised in the United States, her parents decided that their daughters would represent Japan. They said, “We made the decision that Naomi would represent Japan at an early age. She was born in Osaka and was brought up in a household of Japanese and Haitian culture. Quite simply, Naomi and her sister Mari have always felt Japanese so that was our only rationale. It was never a financially motivated decision nor were we ever swayed either way by any national federation.” This decision may have also been motivated by a lack of interest from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) when she was still a young player. The USTA later offered her the opportunity to train at their national training center in Boca Raton, Florida when she was 16 years old, but she declined.
Career
Born in Japan to a Haitian-American father and a Japanese mother, Osaka has lived and trained in the United States since age three. She came to prominence at age 16 when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic. Two years later, she reached her first WTA final at the 2016 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to enter the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Osaka made her breakthrough into the upper echelon of women’s tennis in 2018 when she won her first WTA title at the Indian Wells Open. Later in the year, she defeated 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams in the final of the US Open to become the first Japanese player to win a major singles title. In mid-2021, suffering from depression and other issues, Osaka retired from the French Open, dropped out of Wimbledon, and lost early at the US Open. She closed down the rest of her tennis season to focus on family and health. From 2018 to 2021, Osaka won a major singles title in four consecutive years, with her streak ending in 2022.
Osaka is one of the world’s most marketable athletes, having been ranked eighth among all athletes in endorsement income in 2020. She was also the highest-earning female athlete of all time by annual income that year. Osaka has gained significant recognition as an activist, having showcased support for the Black Lives Matter movement in conjunction with her matches. She was named one of the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportspersons of the Year for her activism largely as part of her US Open championship run, and was also included on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Moreover, she was the 2021 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she became the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. On the court, Osaka has an aggressive playing style with a powerful serve that can reach 201 kilometers per hour (125 mph).
- Fun Fact: Osaka is the first woman to win successive major singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015, and the first to win her first two in successive majors since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.
Personal Life
Osaka had a shy, reserved personality in her early years on the WTA Tour. Osaka is also very frank and is regarded as having a dry sense of humor. During her 2018 Indian Wells Open victory speech, she began by saying “Um, hello … I’m Naom … oh never mind” and later noted, “This is probably going to be the worst acceptance speech of all time” after being worried about forgetting whom to thank, and appearing to nearly forget to thank her opponent, Daria Kasatkina as well as one of her sponsors.
Osaka began a relationship with American rapper Cordae in 2019.
In 2021, Osaka became a co-owner of the North Carolina Courage in the National Women’s Soccer League, the top level of women’s soccer in the U.S.
Osaka has suffered with depression since the 2018 US Open. In May 2021, she refused to take part in required press conferences during the French Open and was subsequently fined $15,000 and threatened with expulsion from the tournament. On May 31, Osaka withdrew from the event to deal with her mental health and well-being. Less than a month later she also pulled out of Wimbledon citing “She is taking some personal time with friends and family.” She attempted to come back for the Olympics but the pressure of returning to the limelight was a factor in her third round loss.
In September at the US Open, she lost to Leylah Fernandez and in the process threw her racket three times and received a code violation for firing a ball at the spectators. Afterwards she said “I’m not really sure why” and “recently I feel very anxious when things don’t go my way.” Osaka then announced she was taking an indefinite break from the sport. Later in 2021, she shared with Victoria’s Secret that she is being helped by therapy, her dog, calming music, and slowing down.
At the 2022 Indian Wells Open, a heckler unsettled Osaka to the point of tears after which she had to seek therapy. She said the consistent therapy really helped and she is better prepared for incidents in the future. In a May 2022 interview, Osaka shared that while there have been ups and downs, she feels very content with her mental health journey.
Osaka is an investor in a professional pickleball team which will be based in Miami, Florida, beginning in 2023.
In May 2022, Osaka announced after being represented by IMG for six years, she is partnering with her agent, Stuart Duguid to form her own sports agency, Evolve. Her contract with IMG expired at the end of 2021, and the renewal talks were stalled. Osaka and Duguid will have equity stakes in the agency, and it will only be representing a few clients.
In January 2023, not long after withdrawing from the Australian Open, Osaka revealed that she was pregnant with her first child with rapper Cordae. Osaka later confirmed she hoped to return to tennis for the 2024 Australian Open in January 2024, with her baby being due “in June or July 2023”.
- Fun Fact: At the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won her first two major titles in back-to-back tournaments.
Net Worth
Naomi Osaka is the most marketable tennis player, and in 2020 she was the eighth most profitable athlete from endorsements. She has achieved great success and fortune in her career. Naomi Osaka has also won $21,177,252 as prize money.
With a month income currently estimated at $500,000, Osaka has a yearly income of $6 million and her net worth is estimated to be $65 million as at March 2023.
Osaka lives in Beverly Hills, California, where she spends most of her time with her family.
Osaka owns some of the most beautiful and luxurious cars including a Nissan GTR NISMO, Mercedes, Range Rover, etc.
