Naomi Osaka is the Neil Armstrong of Japanese grand slam titles after becoming the first
Japanese ever to win a grand slam in the 2018 US Open Finals against Serena Williams.
Here’s a story of a brilliant woman who came from a daring love story and is
currently impressing the world of tennis and sport with her indelible and talented mark.
Stick around too to know why the 24-year-old is currently the world's highest paid female athlete.
Family:
Naomi Osaka was born in Chuoku-ku,
Osaka in Japan to Haitian father Leonard Francois and Japanese mother Tamaki Osaka.
Her parents met when Tamaki was in highschool and Leonard,
who was visiting Hokkaido, Japan where Tamaki is from, was in college in New York.
Leonard and Tamaki both dated in secret for years.
When Tamaki’s parents found out about their relationship,
they resorted to stop talking to her for a decade and a half until their reconnection again in 2008.
After the lovebirds married, they soon had Mari Osaka on April 3rd
1996. And then a year later, they had Naomi on the 16th of October 1997.
Three years after this, they moved to Long Island, New York, to stay with Leonard’s parents.
Leonard began teaching Osaka and her sister Mari tennis by watching the Williams sisters play.
He didn't have any prior tennis experience just as Richard Williams, but he humbly watched
closely on a daily basis, how Richard taught his daughters and remarked that:
“The blueprint was already there. I just had to follow it”
But to have better opportunities to train his daughters,
the family moved to Florida when Naomi was about nine years of age in 2006.
Naomi first began training during the day at the Pembroke Pines public day while home-schooling
at night. Then when she was 15 years old, she got into the ISP Academy to work with Patrick Tauma.
Her sister was with her through all this and even became a professional tennis player herself
and though Mari later quit in March of 2021, she had once completed the Japanese
version of the Williams sisters and had shared a court with her kid sis Naomi on major stage.
At a very young age, Naomi had been shunned by the United States Tennis Association to train her,
then when she was 16, they offered to take her under their wings and guess what,
she turned them down this time around.
She further chose not to identify as American even though she had been raised in America
mostly because her parents made that decision for her. They had admitted in a statement, saying:
“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."
For practical reasons, they also decided to keep the Osaka name and Naomi doesn't
really identify as American but black and Asian. And she also adores her heritage.
One time she had said in a statement that:
"Japanese culture? I love everything about it...And Haiti, if you’ve ever met a Haitian
person, they are really positive, and literally if you’re friends with them,
then they will do anything for you. That’s something that is a really good trait,
and I’m really happy that my grandparents and my dad’s side of the family is like that."
We probably should start looking for Haitian and Asian friends. And while we are at it,
let's take a look at where Naomi Osaka lives when she's not on the court or elsewhere.
House:
Osaka may not identify as American, she nevertheless was raised in America and when
she was able to afford herself a home, she purchased one, also in America.
Right after her shocking victory against Serena Williams in 2018,
the youngster was smiling widely to the bank. But it was not until
the following year in 2019 that she approached the singer-songwriter,
Nick Jonas in an off-market deal to buy the house from him for a whopping $7 million.
The five-bedroom, four-bathroom architectural home is situated
on a half-an-acre plot of land just high above in the mountains of Beverly Hills.
It is a minimalist home with high ceilings and clerestory
windows that enable the generous entry of light throughout the house.
It is built with an office, a gym, a two-storey compact guest house, an outdoor infinity pool,
an informal living area looking out to the pool, and a nice courtyard.
But aside from the new home, the Serena Williams defeat also came with other amazing luxuries.
Cars
Now, what do you think a glamorous athlete who had once been on the front page of vogue, would drive?
Well, something insanely gorgeous and glamorous right?
You’re not wrong! Naomi’s car is magical! A sensation from the automobile company, Nissan.
Just like she would pick up different combinations of colours to style her clothes,
she was also granted the opportunity by the world class company to design her own car.
The car is a special GT-R. Nissan and Naomi combined these breath-taking colours:
Midnight Opal, brilliant white pearl and meteor flake black pearl.
The car carries some amazing features like LED-mount stop
lights on the dry carbon rear spoiler, a 3.8 litre twin-turbocharged V-6 and an
engine hooked up to a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive system.
If that is a little too hard for you to understand, here's what Naomi’s Nissan GT-R
is trying to say in a nutshell: I’m one of a kind like my owner and I cost an insane $1.12 million.
That's a lot of money, but of course, Naomi is a lot of person.
And aside from helping other businesses promote their brands like she does for Nissan,
she also has a couple of businesses herself.
Businesses:
The 24-year-old sensation is gradually turning into a business tycoon outside the court.
Kicking this one off is her sun- and skincare product line called Kinlo,
which is specifically targeted at black, brown and Asian Pacific communities.
Kinlo, with kin and lo which translates from Japanese and Haitian Creole as Gold, was debuted
in September 2021 and boasts of naturally robust products that are usually plant-based.
Some of the advantages provided by the Kinlo products are protection of skins
from UVA and UVB rays, moisture and general soothing of the skin.
We move away now from skincare products to other investments
like sports that Naomi has her fingerprints on.
In early 2021, it was announced that she had become an investor to
the North Carolina Courage soccer club which is one of the best in the world.
But she is not doing this for the money alone; according to her,
“My investment in the North Carolina Courage is far beyond just being a team owner,
it’s an investment in amazing women who are role models and leaders in their fields and
inspirations to all young female athletes. I also admire everything the Courage does for diversity
and equality in the community, which I greatly look forward to supporting and driving forward.”
But that is not just all folks; because Naomi loves to see young businesses grow she has
partnered with brands like BodyArmour, Sweetgreen, Hyperice and Muzik because like she said,
“I’m really interested in seeing a young business grow and adding value to that process.
I asked my team with finding brands that align with my personality and my interests”
She has also partnered with big companies like Nike, who snatched her away from
Adidas in 2019 with an endorsement worth $10 million a year and a stake at the company.
She also has equity shares at VR startup, StatusPRO,
and plant-based-chicken maker, Daring Foods.
Nevertheless, what really blows the mind is her long list of endorsement deals:
Endorsements:
Already, we have seen her Nike deal and her sponsorship with the Japanese auto
company Nissan which were actually her first major endorsements right
after she beat Serena Williams in their record-breaking match.
In 2021, Osaka, as reported by Forbes, earned an estimated net worth of $60 million
and out of all these, only $5 million was made off the court;
every other drop of dollar came from her sponsorship deals.
Here's a list of the deals Naomi have accumulated from huge brands:
Yonex which is a tennis racket company that has been sponsoring Naomi for over 10 years now.
Citizen watch, the Japanese electronic company,
also has her signature in their endorsement register.
Other endorsements include, Bare Minerals, Mastercard, Melco Resorts,
All Nippo Airways, Ariel Japan, Wowow, Sheisedo, Nissin foods, Morinaga and others.
Wow so many endorsements,
no wonder she's considered as one of the most marketable female athletes in the world.
Next we get to see how she has channelled some of her money into helping the needy.
Charity foundation:
The richest female athlete has also had a huge positive mark in the lives of many.
In 2020, she and her sister had partnered with UNICEF to design and sell a limited-edition
face mask. The proceeds were given to the less fortunate in Japan.
She had also donated her prize money from winning the Cincinnati Open to
the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti in 2021.
Then she collaborated with Nike and Laureus Sport for good, to develop an initiative called
Play Academy which helps transform the lives of girls through increased participation in sports.
But when she isn't running her businesses, or kicking butts she squeezes out time to relax,
spend time with family and even take breaks, like she did in 2021, to care for her mental health.
Leisure and vacations:
Naomi Osaka enjoys Twitter. She spends a great
deal of time tweeting about fun stuff and anything that may be relevant to society.
Her favourite band is the South Korean boy band BTS.
She is also an adept lover of anime and video games and even travels with her
Sony PlayStation games console. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is her favourite game.
But it's not all games and twitter for the youngster when tennis isn't taking her time.
She also enjoys time out with the family and the rapper Cordae who is also her boyfriend.
What a wonderful time we've had going through a brilliant athlete that isn't
done amazing us with her talent and lifestyle.