2019: Australian Open champion, world No.

1
Osaka entered the Australian Open as the fourth seed and also one of eleven players in contention
for the world No. 1 ranking.[60] She made it to the final against Petra Kvitová, having beaten Hsieh Su-
wei in the third round despite being one set, 2–4 and 0–40 down at one point. [61] Anastasija
Sevastova also won the first set against her in the fourth round, while No. 8 Karolína Plíšková
pushed her to three sets in the semifinals.[62][63] After Osaka won the first set in the final, Kvitová saved
three championship break points before breaking Osaka in back-to-back service games to win the
second set. Nonetheless, Osaka recovered to win the championship. She was the first woman to win
consecutive Grand Slam singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015, and was the first player to
follow up her first Grand Slam singles title with another at the next such event since Jennifer
Capriati in 2001.[64] She also became the first Asian player to be ranked No. 1 in the world in singles.
[65][66]
 Despite this title, she parted ways with her coach Sascha Bajin following the tournament.[67]
Osaka struggled after the Australian Open. She lost in the fourth and third rounds at the two Premier
Mandatory tournaments in March, the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open.[68][69] After beginning
the clay-court season with a semifinal at the Stuttgart Open where she withdrew due to an
abdominal injury,[70] her best results were two quarterfinals at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.
[71]
 She also withdrew from the latter due to a right hand injury. [72] Osaka matched her best result at
the French Open, losing to Kateřina Siniaková in the third round.[73] During the grass court season,
Osaka lost in the early rounds to Yulia Putintseva at both tournaments she entered, including the
first round at Wimbledon.[74] As a result, she lost the No. 1 ranking to Ashleigh Barty.[14]
Before the US Open, Osaka made the quarterfinals at the two Premier 5 tournaments in August,
the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, where she was defeated by Serena Williams and Sofia
Kenin respectively.[75][76] These performances helped her regain the No. 1 ranking so that she had the
top seed at the US Open. Nonetheless, her title defense came to an end in the fourth round
against Belinda Bencic, who defeated her for the third time during the year.[77] She then fell to No. 4
in the world.[14] Following the tournament, Osaka went back to having her father as her coach. [78] This
change had an immediate impact, as Osaka won her next two tournaments. First, she won the Pan
Pacific Open in her hometown of Osaka, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.[79] Two
weeks later, she won the Premier Mandatory China Open. During the tournament, she defeated
reigning US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the quarterfinals and world No. 1 and reigning
French Open champion Ashleigh Barty in the final, both in three sets after losing the first. [80] This was
Andreescu's first loss since March.[81] These results brought her to No. 3 in the world.[14] At the end of
the season, Osaka qualified for the WTA Finals for the second consecutive year. However, after
defeating Petra Kvitová in her first match, she withdrew due to injury. [82]
2020: Second US Open title

Osaka at the 2020 Cincinnati Open in New York

Osaka only played four tournaments in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the tour
shutdown, she lost to No. 2 Karolína Plíšková in a semifinal at the Brisbane International and Coco
Gauff in the third round of the Australian Open, squandering a chance to serve for the match in the
former.[83][84] When the tour resumed, Osaka played the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, which
were held in back-to-back weeks in New York. Osaka did not lose a match at either event. At the
Cincinnati Open, she defeated four played ranked in the 20s before defaulting in the final
against Victoria Azarenka due to a hamstring injury.[85][86] Both Osaka and Azarenka reached the final
again at the US Open, where Osaka became the first player to win a US Open women's singles final
by coming from a set down since 1994. This was her second US Open title in three years.[87]
[88]
 Following the US Open, Osaka skipped the French Open and ended her season because of her
lingering hamstring injury.[89]
During both of these tournaments in New York, Osaka drew attention for her activism. She had
initially withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open before the semifinal to raise awareness for the police
shooting of Jacob Blake, only staying in the tournament after they chose to support her cause by
postponing the event for a day.[90] At the US Open, Osaka walked onto the court for her seven
matches wearing a different black mask, each of which with the name of an African American who
had been killed in recent years often without significant repercussions. [91]

2021: Second Australian Open title

Osaka was seeded third at the 2021 Australian Open. She recorded straight-set wins over Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova, Caroline Garcia, and Ons Jabeur, before defeating Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets
in the fourth round despite facing match points during the third set (the only match in which she lost
a set during the tournament). She went on to defeat Hsieh Su-wei in the quarterfinals, Serena
Williams in the semifinals, and 22nd seed Jennifer Brady in the final to claim her second Australian
Open title.[92] She became one of only three players in the Open Era to win her first four Grand Slam
finals, alongside Roger Federer and Monica Seles.[93][94]
National representation
Fed Cup
Osaka made her Fed Cup debut for Japan in 2017, while the team was competing in
the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I. Japan won all nine of their rubbers to advance out of their round
robin pool. Although Osaka won her singles match in the play-off against Kazakhstan, the team lost
their other two matches and was not able to advance. [95] The following year with Osaka absent,
Japan was able to defeat Kazakhstan in the same group to advance to the 2018 World Group II
Play-offs.[96] In this stage, they hosted Great Britain in a usual five rubber tie. At this point, Osaka
returned to the team and won her opening match against Heather Watson.[97] After she lost her next
rubber to Johanna Konta, Kurumi Nara was also able to defeat Watson to set up a decisive doubles
match. Japan won that final rubber to earn promotion to World Group II in 2019. [98]

Hopman Cup
Osaka made her Hopman Cup debut in 2018 with Yūichi Sugita. Japan was making their first
appearance at the exhibition tournament since 2001.[99] They were grouped with Switzerland, the
United States, and Russia, and lost all three of their ties. Osaka's only match win came in singles
against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She also had a big highlight in the mixed doubles
match against Switzerland when she served an ace past Roger Federer.[100]

Playing style

Osaka serving

Osaka is an aggressive baseline player.[101] She has excellent raw power, especially on

her forehand and her serve. Osaka could hit 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph) forehands at the
age of sixteen, and her serve has been clocked at up to 200 kilometres per hour (124 mph), making
her one of the ten fastest servers on record in WTA history. [102][103] While she can use her power to hit
high numbers of winners, Osaka's key to success is to be able to win long rallies.[102] One of the first
notable instances in which that strategy proved successful was when Osaka made her first career
WTA final at the 2016 Pan Pacific Open.[104]
Osaka credited improving her mental approach and cutting down on unforced errors for her
breakthrough season in 2018. At the Wuhan Open towards the end of the year, she noted, "I think
my biggest improvement is mental. My game is more consistent, there are not so many unforced
errors. I'm not sure how many I hit today, but sometimes last year I was hitting a lot!" [105] She
attributed some of these changes to her coach Sascha Bajin, saying, "Since I was working with
[Bajin] — and I tend to be a bit negative on myself — I feel like I've gotten a little bit more
optimistic ... I fight myself a lot, so he's sort of been, like, the peacemaker." Bajin also agreed with
Osaka on the impact of having a patient, positive approach in each match. [106]

Coaches
Osaka was coached by her father Leonard François from the age of three. [2] Patrick Tauma was one
of her first coaches after she began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit. He was her coach in 2013
when she reached her first ITF final. [4][107] In 2014, she spent seven months training at an academy
run by Harold Solomon, a former top five player and French Open finalist who has coached many
top women's tennis players including Jennifer Capriati and Mary Joe Fernández.[108][5] Under Solomon,
Osaka defeated Sam Stosur for her first WTA match win. [5] Following her loss at the 2016 US Open
where she could not convert a 5–1 lead in the third set, the Japan Tennis Association helped
arrange for David Taylor to be her new coach.[102]
After a lackluster 2017 season, Osaka switched coaches to Sascha Bajin, who had previously
served as a hitting partner to top players such as Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline
Wozniacki.[109][106] With Bajin as her coach, Osaka won her first Premier Mandatory title and two Grand
Slam singles titles.[44][54] She also rose to No. 1 in the world after having never previously been ranked
above No. 40.[14] Bajin was named the inaugural WTA Coach of the Year in 2018.[110] Shortly after her
2019 Australian Open title, Osaka surprisingly split with Bajin, saying, she "wouldn't put success
over [her] happiness."[67][111] She hired Jermaine Jenkins to be her new coach the following month.
Jenkins had previously worked as a hitting partner for Venus Williams.[112] Osaka temporarily replaced
him with her father in September. She won her first two tournaments with him back as her coach. [113]
[78]
 She then hired Wim Fissette for the start of the 2020 season.[114]

Endorsements
Osaka is one of the most marketable athletes in the world. She earned an estimated $16 million in
endorsements alone in 2019, which placed her second among all female athletes behind only
Serena Williams who earned $25 million.[115] The following year, she became the highest-paid female
athlete of all time, having earned $37.4 million in total, including $34 million in endorsements.[116]
[117]
 Overall, she was the 29th highest-paid athlete in 2020 and the 8th highest-paid athlete in
endorsements alone.[118]
Nike has been Osaka's apparel sponsor since 2019, [119] having replaced Adidas who had sponsored
her for four years.[120] With Nike, Osaka has a clothing collection featuring her monogram logo that
uses her initials and is inspired by the Japanese flag. [121][122] The Japanese sporting equipment
manufacturer Yonex has supplied her with rackets since 2008. [123] She plays with the Yonex Ezone
98 racket, equipped with Polytour Pro 125 and Rexis 130 strings.[124] Osaka has been represented by
the IMG management company since 2016. [125]
Osaka is a brand ambassador for Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan and Japanese
electronics manufacturer Citizen Watch.[123][126] She also endorses several other Japanese companies,
including noodle maker Nissin Foods, cosmetics producer Shiseido, the broadcasting
station Wowow, and airline All Nippon Airways (ANA).[127][128][129]
In January 2021, Osaka was named the brand ambassador for Tag Heuer watches as well as Louis
Vuitton and she will appear in their Spring-Summer 2021 campaign. [130]

Personal life
Osaka had a shy, reserved personality in her early years on the WTA Tour. [131] Her former
coach Sascha Bajin was initially confused by her personality, saying, "I thought she was a little bit
more of a diva because she didn't talk much. She doesn't really look at someone's eyes, but that's
just because she was always so shy ... Back then I didn't know for what reason." [106] 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 Yonex.[132][133]
Osaka has since made efforts to overcome her shyness,[134] while also becoming a leading activist in
professional tennis. Her decision to withdraw from the 2020 Cincinnati Open in New York to raise
awareness for the police shooting of Jacob Blake led the tournament to postpone all ATP and WTA
matches for a day in support of her cause.[90] At the 2020 US Open beginning the following week, the
masks she wore as she walked onto the court due to the COVID-19 pandemic each prominently
displayed the name of an African American who had been killed in the preceding few years, the
majority of whom in the year before the tournament and the majority of whom by police. She
highlighted Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George
Floyd, Philando Castile, and Tamir Rice; and was praised directly by the parents of Martin and
Arbery.[91][135] Prior to these acts of activism, Osaka had also travelled to Minnesota to attend the
protests of the police killing of George Floyd. She outlined her personal reasons for supporting
the Black Lives Matter movement and protesting police brutality in an op-ed in Esquire magazine.[136]
Osaka was named a 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year for her activism alongside the
year's other prominent activist sports champions LeBron James, Breanna Stewart, and Patrick
Mahomes, as well as medical worker Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.[137] She was also honored as one of
the Time 100 most influential people in the world in 2020 for her activism, having also been named
to the list in 2019 for representing professional tennis well as an excellent role model and a major
champion.[138][139]
Osaka has been featured as the main character in a manga series published
by Kodansha in Nakayoshi, a leading Japanese shojo magazine. The series is being drawn
by Futago Kamikita and was made with the help of Osaka's sister Mari. The first edition appeared in
the February 2021 issue of the magazine, which was released in December 2020. [140][141]
Osaka is in a relationship with American rapper Cordae.[142][143]
In 2021, Osaka became a co-owner of the North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer
League, the top level of the women's sport in the U.S.[144][145]

Background
Osaka has said, "My dad's Haitian, so I grew up in a Haitian household in New York. I lived with my
grandma. And my mom's Japanese and I grew up with the Japanese culture too, and if you're saying
American, I guess because I lived in America, I also have that too." [3] Her Haitian grandparents only
spoke to her in Creole because they did not know English, while her mother conversed with her in
Japanese.[2] Osaka elected for Japanese citizenship over American in 2019, with an eye on the
Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She said, "I always represent Japan when I play." [146] Osaka can understand
Japanese, but is not very confident speaking the language. She has said, "I can understand way
more Japanese than I can speak."[147] At press conferences, Osaka can take questions in Japanese
but typically will answer them in English.[148][149]
Osaka's background is particularly unusual given that she represents Japan, a country that
perceives itself as being very racially homogeneous. In Japan, she is referred to as a hāfu, meaning
that she is half-Japanese.[147] Her Japanese grandparents did not initially accept her parents'
relationship. This led to her parents relocating from Hokkaido to the city of Osaka, where she and
her sister were born. As a result, her mother had no contact with her family for nearly 15 years and
Osaka did not get the chance to return to Japan until she was 11 years old, nor did her grandparents
initially support her parents for building their daughters' lives around tennis. [2] However, they later
began to support Osaka as a tennis player following her unexpected upset of Sam Stosur in her
WTA Tour debut.[2] They were also proud of her in particular for winning the 2018 US Open. [150]