Naomi Osaka | Early Life | Education | Family | Business | Wealth
Naomi Osaka created history by being the first Japanese tennis player to win a Grand Slam title (US Open winner 2018). Not only that she has also being ranked as No. 1 in the world by Woman’s Tennis Association in the singles category.
This multicultural young girl is walking on the footsteps of some of her idols such as Serena Williams, by winning consecutive titles just like Williams.
So let’s dive into Naomi Osaka’s life and career to know more about this amazing young tennis player.
Personal Biography
But before we go in the details here are a few basic details about her that will help you to know about Naomi better.
Born | Naomi Osaka, October 16, 1997 (age 25), Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan. |
Height | 180 cm,1.80 m, 5’11” |
Weight | 70kg,154 lbs |
Country | Japan |
Profession | Tennis Player |
Famous For | First Japanese Player to win Grand Slam Title (US Open Winner 2018). |
Turned Pro | September 2013 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand). |
Career Titles | 6 |
Coach / Mentors | Sascha Bajin, David Taylor, Patrick Tauma, Harold Soloman, Jermaine Jenkins. |
Favorite Shot | Forehand. |
Records / Achievements | WTA Newcomer of the Year 2016.The 1st Japanese to win Grand Slam title.Won US Open title in 2018. |
Career Turning Point | Her 2014 Bank of West Classic performance. |
Nationality | Japanese, American |
Net Worth | $60 million as of 2021. |
Early Life
Naomi was born in Osaka, Japan. She is a multicultural girl, Naomi Osaka parents, her mother is Japanese while her father is Haitian. Naomi has an elder sister Mari who too was a former tennis player.
When Naomi was only three years old her whole family moved to Long Island, New York. After watching the William sisters, Venus and Serena play at the 1999 French Open, Naomi’s father got inspired to teach his daughters tennis.
Following rather copying the technique of how Richard Williams taught his daughter, Naomi’s father Francois did the same. According to him, “the blueprint was already there. I just had to follow it.”
Naomi was homeschooled at night and during the day she used to practice at a public court at Pembroke Pines. After she turned 15, she got into the ISP Academy and was coached by Patrick Tauma. Then in 2014 she went to Harold Soloman Tennis Academy.
Even though she basically grew up in American since she was three years old, Naomi would go on to represent Japan. Her parents chimed in about it saying, “We made the decision that Naomi would represent Japan at an early age. She was born n 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.”
Career In Tennis
Naomi directly skipped to ITF Women’s Circuit without even fully completing ITF Junior Circuit. There she played at her first qualifying match in 2011 on her birthday, she just turned 14. Then she made her debut in doubles alongside her sister, while she did not qualify for the singles.
When she entered the 2012, $10K event on the Amelia Island, where she lost to her own sister during the semi-finals. Although she won a title in the ITF level, she always managed to end in a runner-up position.
In 2013, when she turned 16, Naomi made her entry to two qualifying draws on the same month at the WTA Tour, for the Challenge Bell and Pan Pacific Open. In the Pan Pacific Open, she got the opportunity to represent Japan.
Next year she had her first qualified main draw for “2014 Stanford Classic”. That is were she upset Samantha Stosur, world-raking 19, by saving the match point on the second tiebreak and came back strong with 5-3 in the third set. At this time she was only 16 years old and her world rank was no. 406.
Ranking Towards The Top
But she soon moved towards rank 250, after winning at the Japan Women’s Open, which was her only other main draw at WTA that year. In 2016, Naomi was named the “Newcomer of the Year.” This transpired after she either won or draw other tennis players much higher on the list than her.
She won against players like Sra Errani, Simona Halep, CoCo Vanderweghe, Dominika Caibulkova, Svitolina and finished in a draw with, Elina Svitolina. This was the first time she reached the finals of US Open, but she ultimately lost to Carolina Wozniacki. But nonetheless, Naomi Osaka was named as the “WTA Newcomer of the Year.”
Her road to becoming the first Japanese Grand Slam singles champion was not at all easy. In 2018, she hired coach Sascha Bajin to coach her.
At Grand Slam events she gave her career’s best results and efforts. Slowly yet steadily she was defeating major players to reach the finals, where she had to face off her childhood idol, Serena Williams. Naomi There managed to defeat Serena Williams making her the first ever Japanese female tennis to win.
Personal Life
In her normal life, Naomi is very shy and quite reserved, during her early seasons on the WTA tour. This is the reason why her former coach Sascha Bajin thought her to be some kind of a diva, as she didn’t make eye contact and didn’t talk as much either.
But later he discovered that she was far from being a diva, and she is just very shy. Osaka also had a very dry sense of humor.
As of 2019, Naomi Osaka’s boyfriend was Cordae an American Rapper, who rose to fame after releasing a remixed version of Eminem’s My Name is.
Wrapping Up!
Now that you know a lot about this young tennis player. Naomi Osaka, you can follow her tennis career by yourself from now onwards. She is what we call a role model for all the young girls, who wanna follow their dreams in life as well.
If you liked this article as well, then leave a like and comment down below who is your favorite tennis player.
Read Also: