Naomi Osaka reveals special motivator that led her towards US Open crown

Friday, 01 January 2021 at 16:30

Three-time Major champion and world no. 3 Naomi Osaka secured a couple of honors at the end of the previous season, including Vogue's January 2021 issue cover.

Like many other players, Naomi embraced the short 2020 campaign, entering only four WTA tournaments and winning her third Major crown in the last two years at the US Open. Osaka started the season in Brisbane and lost a tight semi-final encounter to Karolina Pliskova. The Japanese lost the Australian Open crown following a heavy defeat to Cori Gauff and experienced an even worst loss against Sara Sorribles Tormo in the Fed Cup in Spain.

Protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Naomi decided to withdraw from the Cincinnati semi-final encounter versus Elise Mertens, canceling the entire day of action and returning to the court a day later. Osaka won the US Open final over Victoria Azarenka in three sets in the season's last event, lifting the third Major trophy at a young age.

Alongside her tennis, the focus was on Osaka's off-court activity and masks that she wore while entering the US Open court, remembering Floyd, Taylor, Tamir Rice, Elijah McClain, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery and Philando Castile and raising awareness.

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"As tennis players, we are so hyper-focused on what happens on the court, and we think our life is determined by whether we win a match or not. That's not true. The pandemic gave me the chance to go into the real world and do things that I wouldn't have done without it. I always grew up with a little more Japanese heritage and culture, but I'm Black, and I live in America, and I didn't think it was too far-fetched when I started talking about things that were happening here.

Things are going on here that scare me. I just thought that I had this opportunity to raise awareness. Tennis is watched worldwide, so people who might not know these names can Google them and learn their stories. That was a big motivator for me, and I think it helped me win the tournament," Naomi Osaka said.