Tennis pro-Naomi Osaka, who is of Japanese and American descent, has a net worth of $45 million. Naomi, who only began to gain attention in 2018, quickly rose to become one of the highest-paid female athletes in the world in just two years. Through endorsements and tennis tournaments, she brought about $25 million in 2019. She made $38 million in 2020. She made approximately $60 million in 2021, making her the highest-paid female athlete of all time. She made $5 million more than Serena Williams, the previous record holder for the highest-paid female athlete.
Who is Naomi Osaka?
Tennis player and activist Naomi Osaka (born October 16, 1997, in Osaka, Japan) made history in 2018 by being the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. As of this year (2019), she is also the only Asian player to ever top the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings. Osaka was also well-known for her commitment to social justice.
Wishing the happiest birthday to this woman who is already a legend
she celebrates her 24th birthday today, Naomi Osaka ✨✨ pic.twitter.com/5XrWlHmQDW— theo #1inNewYork (@divinesabalenka) October 15, 2021
Osaka’s parents are of mixed heritage; her dad is Haitian and her mom is Japanese. She spent the first three years of her life in Japan before moving with her family to Long Island, New York. There, her father strongly suggested that she start playing tennis. After relocating to Florida with her family in 2016, Osaka spent her days practicing tennis and her evening’s homeschooling. She skipped junior tournaments to turn pro in 2013, and the Japanese tennis federation quickly rallied behind her.
In the years that followed, she became one of the most talked-about prospects in her sport. She made it to the round of 32 in 2016’s Australian Open, French Open, and U.S. Open, all three of the sport’s four major championships. One of the fastest serves ever recorded in women’s tennis was clocked at 125 miles (201 km) per hour at the last of those tournaments. The WTA has recognized Osaka as the 2016 Newcomer of the Year.
Osaka won the 2018 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, for her maiden WTA Tour singles championship in March. Six months later, she competed in the U.S. Open final against Serena Williams, another of her childhood idols, and won in straight sets. After beating Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the finals of the 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won the tournament for a second time. In doing so, Osaka matched Williams as the only woman to win back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles since 2015.
When the rankings were updated on January 28th, 2019, Osaka was at the top. For 21 weeks, she was number one till Australian Ashleigh Barty surpassed her in June. Osaka returned to the top of the rankings later in the year, this time for two weeks beginning in mid-August.
Many people took notice of Osaka because she aired her mind on social justice concerns. As a gesture of support for the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that took place across the United States that summer of 2020, she briefly withdrew from the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in New York. The next month, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she attended the U.S.
When Osaka won the Australian Open for a second time in February 2021, she added another Grand Slam trophy to her collection. In the modern era of tennis (since 1968), she became only the 16th woman to win four Grand Slam singles titles. In May of that year, after being punished by tournament officials for missing press conferences, she withdrew from the French Open due to mental health issues.
She then disclosed that she has battled depression since the beginning of this year and intended to take a sabbatical from the sport. Osaka skipped Wimbledon in 2021, however she did play in the U.S. Open and was knocked out in the third round there. She then had a break of four months and won’t be back in action until early 2022. Osaka had another third-round exit in the Australian Open that year.
Osaka competed on many occasions for Japan in international tournaments. She competed for Japan in the Fed Cup in 2017, 2018, and 2020. Having had dual citizenship with Japan and the United States, Osaka stated in October 2019 that she would renounce her American citizenship to compete for Japan in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Games were originally scheduled to begin in 2020 but were postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Osaka was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron when the Games finally debuted in July 2021. In the Olympic tennis competition, she made it to the third round before being eliminated.