Naomi OSAKA

Japan

Tennis

Games Participations2

First Olympic GamesTokyo 2020

Year of Birth1997

Social Media

Biography

Born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, Naomi Osaka grew up in the United States with her family moving to Long Island, New York when she was four. Five years later, they moved again to Florida.

Osaka first made headlines in 2016. While still 18, she beat two players ranked inside the top 20 to reach the final of the Pan Pacific Open on home soil in Tokyo. That helped her secure the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year award. It was just the start.

Naomi Osaka: from newcomer to champion

While 2017 was a slightly disappointing year, except for a stunning win over defending US Open champion Angelique Kerber at Flushing Meadows, 2018 was anything but under new coach Sascha Bajin. The Japanese youngster reached the fourth round of the Australian Open - her best Slam performance until then - before falling to world number one Simona Halep.

Two months later, she exacted revenge on the Romanian on her way to claiming her first WTA Tour title at Indian Wells. A week later, she got the better of her childhool Serena Williams in Miami with the 23-time Grand Slam singles title winner playing her second tournament after a baby break.

Osaka and Williams would meet again in the final of that year's US Open. In a controversial affair where Williams was penalised for receiving instructions from her coach, and lost her temper with umpire Carlos Ramos, Osaka kept her cool despite the crowd cheering on her legendary opponent. She won 6-2, 6-4 to become Japan's first ever Grand Slam tennis champion. The stoic facade only slipped when boos rang out during the trophy ceremony.

At the very next major, Osaka battled her way through to the 2019 Australian Open final against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. After squandering three match points in the second set, Osaka took the decider to complete back-to-back Slam triumphs and go to number one in the world rankings.

A dip in form, including a fourth-round exit at the US Open, prompted Osaka to split with Bajin and work again under her father. She won her next two tournaments - the Pan Pacific Open and China Open - but was unable to take that form into 2020 before the pandemic struck.

Naomi Osaka: social justice activist, Slam winner and mother

When the tour resumed, Osaka was in scintillating form. She reached the Cincinnati Open semi-finals but withdrew from her match in order to raise awareness following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Having been convinced to play by organisers, who postponed the event for a day, she won her match but a hamstring injury saw her pull out before her final against Victoria Azarenka.

The pair would meet in the final of the US Open and Osaka - who had worn face masks bearing the names of black American victims of alleged racist or police violence before each match - came from a set down to claim her third Slam title.

That was her last tournament of 2020 due to continuing hamstring issues, but Osaka dropped just one set on her way to regaining her Australian Open title in Melbourne. That triumph saw her join Roger Federer and Monica Seles as the only players in the Open era to win their first four Slam finals.

After telling organisers she did not wish to hold press conferences at the French Open, and being fined in the process, Osaka pulled out of the tournament citing mental health issues. She returned for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and lit the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony. On the court, she went out in the third round to eventual silver medallist Marketa Vondrousova.

With the exception of an unexpected run to the Miami Open final in 2022, Osaka largely struggled for form and fitness. She announced her pregnancy days before the start of the 2023 Australian Open and gave birth to daughter Shai in July 2023.

She returned to action at the start of 2024 but has yet to reach the semi-finals of any tournament since her comeback.