Caribbean-American Heritage Month Wall Of Fame 2019: Naomi Osaka

Author

Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS)

Release Date

Friday, June 28, 2019

Share

Naomi Osaka is a professional tennis player who represents Japan. She is the reigning champion in women's singles at the US Open and the Australian Open. Osaka is ranked No. 1 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She has won three titles and reached five finals on the WTA Tour.

Born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, Osaka has lived in the United States since she was three years old. She came to prominence at the age of sixteen 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 Japan 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. In September, she won the US Open, defeating 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the final to become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. She won her second Grand Slam title at the 2019 Australian Open.

Osaka is known for her multi-ethnic background and her shy, candid personality. On the court, she has an aggressive playing style with a powerful serve that can reach 125 miles per hour (200 km/h).

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 Naomi was still a young player. The USTA later offered Naomi the opportunity to train at their national training center in Boca Raton when she was 16 years old, but she declined.

Osaka has been represented by the IMG management company since 2016.The Japanese sporting equipment manufacturer Yonex has supplied her with rackets since 2008. She plays with the Yonex Ezone 98 racket, equipped with Polytour Pro 125 and Rexis 130 strings. Adidas was her apparel sponsor from 2015 until 2019 when she switched to Nike.

Osaka is a brand ambassador for Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan and Japanese electronics manufacturer Citizen Watch.She also endorses several other Japanese companies, including noodle maker Nissin Foods, cosmetics producer Shiseido, the broadcasting station Wowow, and airline All Nippon Airways.

Latest Stories