Naomi Osaka is staging her comeback. Here’s what a brand new biography reveals

In 2018, Naomi Osaka emerged from obscurity to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., charming the tennis world together with her shy however relatable winner’s speech. That fall, her fame unfold into standard tradition when she shocked her idol Serena Williams on the U.S. Open finals. During the controversial match, Williams exploded in self-righteous fury at officiating choices, briefly turning the group in opposition to Osaka and leaving her in tears even in victory.

The headlines, Osaka’s steep climb and her combined Japanese and Haitian heritage propelled her to the highest in endorsement cash. In 2020, she once more expanded her attain by writing forcefully about racism after George Floyd’s homicide, then utilizing her clout to power a one-day boycott in protest over Jacob Blake’s taking pictures.

After profitable her second U.S. and Australian Opens, Osaka then walked away from the 2021 French Open relatively than reply questions at post-match news conferences. Her statements about psychological well being earned her plaudits and assaults. Then, after scuffling with focus and accidents, she left the tour utterly in 2023 to have her first baby.

After plunging from No. 1 on the planet to just about 700th, Osaka will probably be again on the Australian Open beginning Jan. 14 — a brand new twist in her story that coincides with a brand new guide by Ben Rothenberg, “Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice.”

“Naomi is incredibly bold and strong but can be shy and fragile,” says Rothenberg, who lined tennis for the New York Times for years and now’s senior editor of Racquet journal and co-host of the “No Challenges Remaining” podcast.

Speaking by video from his residence in Washington, D.C., Rothenberg says Osaka and her household have been cooperative however typically saved him “at arm’s length,” including, “this book was my idea, not Naomi’s or her team’s.”

“People will come away from this sympathetic about certain things but not others,” he provides. “I think the book is fair, but it’s certainly not sugarcoated.” Our interview has been edited for size and readability.

More than most athletes, Osaka has had such an eventful 5 years, on and off the courtroom.

Even although she solely lately turned 26, she’s had such an extremely full life. But for somebody of her stature and her public resonance, I felt like there was nonetheless quite a bit that was unknown about her and quite a bit to uncover and to know.

There have been smaller incongruous issues — as a baby, she had acted in her father’s unbiased motion pictures, and it’s surreal to see this Grand Slam champion who we consider as being very shy as a baby actress. But there was additionally her household’s monetary peril. I had some sense of it, however seeing the scope of the household’s poverty — lots of that self-inflicted as they chased this long-shot tennis dream — helped me perceive the grownup Naomi, her motivations and her struggles.

Naomi Osaka of Japan poses with the winner’s trophy on the 2018 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

(Rob Prange / Jimmie48)

Osaka’s mother and father strived to comply with the Williams household mannequin, however [Naomi’s older sister] Mari by no means attained tennis glory. What does that inform us about how the system works?

The detour into Mari’s life is one in all my favourite elements of the guide. She had the identical ambition from her mother and father, made the identical sacrifices as Naomi, had the identical misplaced childhood, however there’s not one of the payoff. She obtained to 280th on the planet, which is objectively good, however she wasn’t even near breaking even from prize cash.

And these are the extra widespread tales. Plenty of individuals do that with very combined, generally unhappy and generally tragic [results]. For each breakthrough like Naomi, there’s all those that didn’t make it and are left with the rubble of their profession.

You quote Osaka speaking about how her world was restricted to her household and coaches. Maybe she would naturally have been shy and anxious, however the solitary nature of tennis and that life-style couldn’t have helped.

She went to on-line college after lengthy days on the courtroom. And rising up with so few folks round her, she at all times valued their opinions, so when the entire world was speaking about her, she thought all their opinions mattered too. She didn’t have the instruments to manage as a result of she had been so sheltered. That had a long run impression on her. That’s a broader drawback for a lot of tennis gamers. Some really feel ill-prepared for coping with the actual world. You don’t have a ton of grounding or perspective exterior the traces.

Being well-rounded and being a tennis participant are usually not mutually unique however not mutually useful both. They can repel one another at occasions. The issues that make you an incredible tennis participant don’t serve you nicely in life.

Ben Rothenberg’s “Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice” depends on interviews with the Osaka household.

(Robert Prange)

She additionally turned a star within the age of social media.

The first time I interviewed her, she mentioned the Internet had raised her. But she additionally actually discovered her voice and braveness on-line. Most of her boldest statements have been typed, not spoken out loud.

Her unwillingness to talk at French Open press conferences earned her each admirers and critics — and never simply alongside political traces. You quote Daria Abromowicz, sports activities psychologist for No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek, who says Osaka’s alternative to talk out on psychological well being with out ever seeing a therapist was “irresponsible.”

There have been definitely psychological well being professionals applauding her creating psychological well being consciousness, however others have been extra apprehensive about somebody like her being the torch bearer [for mental health issues]. It wasn’t till virtually a full yr after the French Open [that] she had remedy, whereas gamers like Swiatek have been doing extra rigorous work all that point.

After all this day without work, what can we count on from her on the Australian Open? Will she be a professional risk once more afterward on this yr’s tour?

The confidence is excessive, and her health seems good. But the rust is definitely going to be thick. She must get her rankings up. Women’s tennis has so many sudden outcomes that Naomi profitable the match wouldn’t be the most important shock on the planet. But I feel it’ll take a few tournaments to get her sea legs again. By Indian Wells [in April], I feel she must be trying good.

Are there extra Grand Slams in her future?

She has said the objective of profitable eight extra, which was a wildly daring factor to state out loud — setting this bar so excessive when profitable yet one more after this type of absence can be objectively improbable. But she’s nonetheless bold and nonetheless has that starvation in her from when she was a child that she nonetheless has not switched off.