You just gotta keep going and fighting for everything, and one day you'll get to where you want. These words of the three-times Grand Slam Title winner in the US Open Naomi Osaka demonstrate her remarkable vision for her life and success.
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player and has been ranked No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles.
She was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, since she was three years old, Osaka has lived and trained in the United States. By overcoming the prevailing racism faced by non-Americans in America and also in Japan for having Asian color, she made her way to be the highest-paid female athlete and the first Asian to win the Grand Slam Title. She is a spur of encouragement for everyone. She has always been quite vocal about racism through her social media by standing against racism.
She started her journey at the age of sixteen when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic and 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. Later in the year, she also 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 Grand Slam Title and from then the excursion is persistent as she has won grand slam titles in the consecutive years.
Her status as a Grand Slam singles champion, multi-ethnic background, and her candid personality makes her one of the best athletes in the world. She was the highest-earning female athlete of all time by annual income in 2020 and ranked 8th among all athletes in endorsement income. Her impeccable performance on the court with a powerful service that can reach 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph).
Osaka was included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2019 and 2020. She has also been on Forbes 100 celebrity list at 90th position and World’s highest-paid athletes at 10th position.
