It is undeniable that women have become the dominant figures in the game of tennis. There are so many who have made leaps and bounds in the game; thus finding their way to superstardom. The Women’s Tennis Association unites women of all races around the world and nurtures stars such as Naomi Osaka. Naomi is an American-Japanese professional tennis player currently ranked 19th in women’s singles and 324th in women’s doubles in the world.
Beginning her career in 2013, Osaka has competed in various tournaments including the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Although she did not have a world championship title; Naomi Osaka has feuded with big names in the sport such as Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber, to name a few. Read more about the fast-rising tennis star below.
Naomi Osaka Bio: Age and Ethnicity
The female tennis star was born as Naomi Osaka in Osaka, Japan on October 16, 1997. She was born to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother. She grew up with her older sister Mari Osaka. When Osaka was three years old, her family moved to the United States where she completed her basic education. Naomi attended Elmont Alden Terrace Primary School and after graduating; she enrolled in Broward Virtual Middle School. Upon completion of her basic studies, Naomi went to Florida Tennis SBT Academy as well as ProWorld Tennis Academy. She is of Japanese-Haitian ethnicity and has dual Japanese and American nationality.
Professional career
Upon the establishment of his professional tennis career, his father chose to register with the Japanese Tennis Association. Naomi Osaka started her career in 2012 when she competed on the ITF circuit. Turning professional in 2013, she made her first professional appearance on the WTA West Bank Tour in 2014. She recorded her first professional victory against US Open champion Samantha Stosur.
In 2015, Naomi won the Rising Stars Invitational Exhibition Tournament; defeating Carolina Garcia to win the tournament. She made her grand slam debut at the Australian Open; Nevertheless, she lost in the third round to Victoria Azarenka. The same year, she also reached the third round of Roland-Garros. After her triumph over Jelena Ostapenko and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, she is defeated by Simona Halep.
The amazing tennis prodigy had her breakthrough Toray Pan Pacific Open 2016 where she beat Elina Svitolina, Misaki Doi, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Dominika Cibulkova to reach the final of the competition. Unfortunately, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. After the competition, Naomi entered the top 50 of the WTA rankings. She also won Newcomer of the Year at the 2016 WTA Awards.
In 2017, she participated in the Australian Open winning her match in the first round and losing to Johanna Konta in the second round of the tournament. She also lost in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championship to Christina McHale. She defeated Venus Williams at the Hong Kong Open in October 2017, but was beaten in the quarter-finals by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In the same year, Naomi also participated in the Eastbourne International Tournament, Nottingham Open, Miami Open and Volvo Car Open, among others.
Moreover, Naomi won her first Premier Mandatory title in 2018 after her impressive performance at the BNP Paribas Open. She beat world No. 1 Simona Halep to advance to the final; thus beating the Russian Daria Kasatkina with the first compulsory title. She also reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final after beating Aryna Sabalenka. Naomi Osaka will face Lesia Tsurenko in the next round of the tournament. During this time, she reached the third round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open.
Family: father, mother (parents) and sister
As we mentioned before, Naomi Osaka was born to Haitian father Leonard Francois and Japanese mother Tamaki Osaka. Her father was born and raised in Haiti. he moved to the United States where he attended New York University. After graduating, he traveled to Japan where he met and married Naomi’s mother. Three years after Naomi was born, her family moved to the United States and currently resides in Florida.
Naomi has an older sister called Mari Osaka. Apparently, the two sisters are both professional tennis players. Mari made his first professional appearance at the 2014 WTA Classic Tour. Although she lost in doubles, she teamed up with Marina Shamayko. She is a three-time runner-up in three singles finals, first on the Amelia Island tour in 2012, then Goyang in South Korea and Denain in France in 2017. Interestingly, the two sisters have played doubles tennis together. While Naomi currently ranks 19th in WTA women’s singles, Mari, meanwhile, ranks 289th in 2018.