Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is a professional tennis player who has won four Grand Slam titles — the most important tournaments in tennis. She was born in Osaka, Japan, to a Japanese mother and a Haitian-American father, and moved to the United States when she was just three years old. Growing up, she trained on public courts in Pembroke Pines, Florida, coached by her father.

Naomi is Japanese and Haitian, and she has always been proud of both parts of her identity. When she had to choose one country to represent in tennis, she chose Japan — the country where she was born. In 2019, she became the first Asian player ever to hold the world No. 1 ranking in tennis.

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player of Haitian-American and Japanese heritage, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential athletes of her generation. She was born on October 16, 1997, in Osaka, Japan, to a Japanese mother and a father who is Haitian-American. The family relocated to the United States when Naomi was three, settling eventually in Pembroke Pines, Florida, where she trained on public courts under her father's coaching.

Her career achievements are historic. She holds four Grand Slam singles titles — two at the Australian Open and two at the US Open — and in January 2019 became the first Asian player to be ranked world No. 1 in singles. She is also the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Beyond tennis, she has become a prominent voice on racial justice, mental health, and the value of mixed and multicultural identity.

Naomi's tennis journey began on public courts in Florida, where her father coached her and her sister Mari every day. She never competed in junior tennis tournaments the way most players do — she went straight to the professional circuit as a teenager. At age 16, she made her professional debut and defeated a former US Open champion, which shocked the tennis world.

Her biggest breakthrough came in 2018, when she won the Indian Wells Open — her first professional title — and then the US Open, becoming the first Japanese player ever to win a Grand Slam. The following year, she won the Australian Open and reached world No. 1. She went on to win two more Grand Slams, for a total of four major titles.

Naomi Osaka's path to professional tennis was unconventional. She bypassed the standard junior circuit entirely, moving directly to the professional ITF Women's Circuit as a teenager, coached by her father. At 16, she made her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic, defeating former US Open champion Samantha Stosur — a result that signaled she was not a typical newcomer.

Her breakthrough season came in 2018. She won the Indian Wells Open — her first Premier Mandatory title — defeating two top-five players along the way. She then won the US Open in a final against Serena Williams that was overshadowed by controversy when Williams received a game penalty for her conduct toward the umpire. Naomi later described the win as bittersweet. The following January, she won the Australian Open and became both the world No. 1 and the first Asian player ever to hold that ranking.

Between 2018 and 2021, she won four Grand Slam titles. She is one of only three players in the Open Era — alongside Roger Federer and Monica Seles — to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals. Her playing style is aggressive and powerful, built around a serve that can reach over 200 kilometers per hour.

During the 2020 US Open, Naomi wore a different mask before each of her seven matches. Each mask displayed the name of a Black American whose death had drawn attention to questions of justice and police violence — including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and others. She won the tournament. It was one of the most powerful athlete protests in recent memory.

Earlier in that same tournament week, she had announced she would not play her match to raise awareness about the shooting of Jacob Blake. The entire tournament paused for a day in response. Naomi later wrote in a magazine article about why she felt compelled to speak up, and what the Black Lives Matter movement meant to her personally as a Black woman.

Naomi Osaka's activism is deliberate, documented, and multi-directional. During the 2020 US Open, she entered each of her seven matches wearing a mask bearing the name of a Black American killed in recent years — Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile, and Tamir Rice. She won the championship while doing it. She was named a 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year alongside LeBron James specifically for this activism.

Earlier that same week, she withdrew from the Cincinnati Open ahead of her semifinal match to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The ATP and WTA jointly postponed all matches for a day. Naomi later wrote an op-ed in Esquire magazine articulating her reasons for speaking out — noting her personal connection to the Black Lives Matter movement as a Black woman of Haitian descent.

Her activism is not limited to racial justice. In 2021, she became a central figure in the conversation about athlete mental health when she withdrew from the French Open, citing depression and anxiety that had been affecting her since 2018. What followed was a global debate about whether athletes owe the public access to their mental state, and whether sports organizations should better support player wellbeing. She was included on TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Success in tennis has not always made Naomi happy. She has talked openly about experiencing depression and anxiety, especially the pressure of press conferences and the spotlight that comes with being famous. In 2021, she decided not to do media interviews at the French Open in order to protect her mental health. When tournament officials threatened her with fines and disqualification, she withdrew from the tournament entirely.

Her decision started a worldwide conversation. Many fellow athletes and mental health advocates supported her. Others argued she had broken the rules. What most people agreed on was that athletes — like everyone else — have inner lives that matter.

Naomi returned to competition, took maternity leave in 2023 when she welcomed her daughter, and came back to professional tennis in 2024. She has continued to speak about mental health as something to work on, not hide.

Naomi Osaka's public reckoning with mental health began in 2021, though she has since said she has lived with depression since winning the US Open in 2018. At the French Open that year, she announced she would not participate in post-match press conferences, describing the experience of being questioned after a loss as something that triggered anxiety and felt, at times, like being bullied. When officials fined her and threatened further penalties, she withdrew from the tournament — and then from Wimbledon — to take time for herself.

The response illustrated how mental health in sport is still treated differently from physical injury. Players routinely withdraw from media obligations due to physical illness without penalty or widespread criticism. Naomi's case showed that an equivalent decision based on mental health could generate global controversy. Researchers and sports psychologists pointed out that between a quarter and a third of elite athletes experience significant mental health issues across their careers — yet there remains little formal support within sporting institutions.

Naomi herself has described going to therapy and continuing to work on managing anxiety. After taking maternity leave in 2023 — during which she welcomed a daughter — she returned to professional tennis in 2024 and has spoken with characteristic directness about the ongoing nature of mental wellness. Her courage in naming her experience publicly is credited with shifting how athletes and sports organizations discuss the topic.

Because Naomi is Black and Japanese, some people have questioned whether she is "really" Japanese. This is something she has spoken about thoughtfully. She chose to represent Japan in tennis because she was born there and has always felt connected to Japanese culture — even though she grew up in the United States and speaks Japanese with what she calls an imperfect accent.

Her Haitian heritage also matters deeply to her. Her father is from Jacmel, Haiti, and her family established a school there for Haitian children. Naomi has described herself as someone who belongs to more than one culture — and she has pushed back against the idea that mixed-race or multicultural people have to choose just one identity.

Naomi Osaka occupies a genuinely unique position in the world: a Black woman of Haitian and Japanese heritage, raised in the United States, representing Japan on the world stage. Each of those facts has at various times made her the subject of public debate about who she "really" is — debates she has engaged with directly and thoughtfully.

In a Netflix documentary series about her life, she reflected on her 2019 decision to renounce her American citizenship in order to represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics. She noted that people often fail to distinguish between nationality (legal citizenship) and race (ancestry, appearance, cultural heritage). She is Japanese by nationality and Black by heritage — and she has been explicit that her decision was never about abandoning her Black identity. In her words: "African American isn't the only Black."

Her Haitian roots connect her to a country with a profound and often painful history. Haiti declared independence in 1804 after a successful slave rebellion — the only such revolution in history to result in an independent nation. France then demanded enormous financial compensation from Haiti in exchange for recognizing its independence, a debt that took decades to repay and that historians argue had lasting economic consequences. Naomi has spoken publicly about this history, adding her voice to calls for France to reckon with what was taken from Haiti. Her willingness to connect her personal heritage to global history illustrates the breadth of her activism.

• 1Naomi chose to represent Japan even though she grew up in the United States. What do you think makes someone feel connected to a country or culture?
• 2When Naomi wore masks with names on them at the US Open, she was using the moment when the most people were watching to send a message. Do you think athletes have a responsibility to speak up about things that matter? Why or why not?
• 3Naomi has talked about feeling anxious and sad, even while being very successful. Why do you think people sometimes feel that way, and what does it mean to take care of your mental health?

• 1Naomi has said that people confuse nationality with race — and that she is both Black and Japanese, not one instead of the other. Why do you think people struggle with the idea of someone belonging to more than one identity at once? What would it mean to fully accept that complexity?
• 2When Naomi withdrew from the French Open for mental health reasons, she faced both support and criticism. Sports organizations fine players for skipping press conferences, but not for skipping them due to physical injury. Do you think that is fair? What changes, if any, should sports organizations make?
• 3Naomi used her public platform to draw attention to Haitian history — specifically, a financial debt imposed on Haiti by France nearly 200 years ago that historians say shaped the country's future. Why do you think she chose to speak about history rather than only current events? What does it mean to understand where a problem came from?