I started out liking Naomi Osaka. I remember a post-match interview she did a few years before she won the US Open, and thinking that she was a cute little thing with a weird little-girl voice. Even when she won the US Open last year in a storm of controversy and sh-tty chair-umpiring, I still liked her because none of it was her fault, not the umpiring, not Serena Williams’ meltdown, not the long history of institutionalized racism and sexism that had led to that moment. She cried when she accepted her trophy in New York as the crowd booed (they were booing the situation more than Osaka personally). She didn’t win any other titles until Melbourne this year, when she beat Petra Kvitova in the Australian Open final. Naomi Osaka: Big Match Player had arrived. She became #1 in the world. Then her world seemingly fell apart.
First she fired her coach, Sascha Bajin, the same coach who had worked with her throughout the three biggest titles of her career up to the point (AO, US Open, and Indian Wells). Then she just kept losing matches that she could have and should have won. She failed to defend her Indian Wells title. She spoke less about winning in her press conferences and spoke more about the search for happiness. She racked up a couple of smaller injuries and several multi-million endorsements. She lost early in the French Open. She lost in first round at Wimbledon. She lost her #1 ranking to Ash Barty. She cried during press conferences. And at some point, she went from soft-spoken introvert to the player who was infantilized by journalists and commentators, like a wayward, precocious child who couldn’t stop screwing up.
All of which to say, I get that she’s under a lot of pressure, and in some ways, she’s dealing with it as best she can. On the other side… she’s 21 years old (22 in October) and I wish people would stop treating her like a child, and I wish she would stop showing people that she wants to be treated that way. Osaka covers the August issue of Allure, basically as a preview of the American hardcourt season. She’s defending a lot of ranking points in the next two months. Will she crack under pressure even more? Or will she rise like a phoenix and defend her title? I don’t know. But this interview is definitely on-brand for her: she barely offers any personal information and I feel like half of what she says is a riddle.
On the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: “Definitely my intention is to play for Japan.”
On her childlike voice: “I feel like people just think that I tend to talk a bit strangely, and I also feel like I can come across very different to people…so I don’t know, I think it’s all about perception.”
Tennis is a rough sport on the body: “I wake up in the morning and all of my bones crack. I don’t think that’s normal.”
On talent & work: “There’s a certain point where talent isn’t useful anymore, and from there you’ve just got to want to win more than everyone else. I think that’s something I noticed from an early age, so that’s what I’ve been fortunate with. I mean, the way that I grew up and the circumstances that sort of surrounded me kind of forced me to think that way. My parents weren’t exactly the richest, so what am I going to do? I’m not really the smartest. I’ve been playing tennis my whole life, you know? So there’s nothing I can imagine myself doing. It’s either I have to be the best or I’m going to be homeless.”
Whether her path was decided for her: “By who? My parents or something? I think in the beginning, yes, for sure, but as I grew up, you know…I started thinking that those dreams, they’re things that I really want to accomplish. So yeah, I think it was more like a push.”
Basically she sounds like one of those hyper-managed kids in the Disney machine and then they suddenly do a real Hollywood movie and their mind is blown. She was a relatively obscure figure two years ago, and so of course there’s a period of adjustment and I get that. I get that everything changed really fast for her. But this is a pointed observation: “There’s a certain point where talent isn’t useful anymore, and from there you’ve just got to want to win more than everyone else.” Does she want to win more than everyone else? Does she want to win at all? Because she hasn’t played like she wants to win for months now.
Cover courtesy of Allure, additional photo courtesy of Avalon Red.
I wish there was more face and less thigh in the cover pic. I mean, the amount of thigh is fine I guess, but surely they took a pic where her hair wasn’t half in her face and you could actually see her. It’s weirdly objectifying as it is now.
Re: Age 21…
Egh. Because of loads of unacknowledged / buried childhood trauma, I didn’t become a fully functioning adult until about 38. It’s unfair to randomly pick an age and expect everyone to mature in lock step. I’d argue that many people are still hot messes at 21 — especially these days.
Our lives unravel differently and at different paces.
I agree with you. I’m 23 and I’m a mess. I can’t imagine the sort of pressure she has to deal with.
Yes, at that level you can assume everyone playing is potentially the best in the world and the most talented on the planet. So you’ve got to play smarter, harder, and dig deep. Roger beat Rafa at Wimbledon because he played “mean”, direct BODY SHOTS every time. Not to the forehand or backhand: BODY SHOTS. Pushed him HARD. Made me so mad!! Lol. But it was smart and it worked. That’s how Roger got that $100M uniqulo contract, by winning the big matches, the slams. Everything is on the line, money, career, sponsors. So, your bones crack every morning? Imagine how the oldies feel!! Serena, Venus, Roger, Rafa! Andy Murray said it best: Roger and Serena don’t get enough credit for keeping the desire ALIVE.
A lot of Japanese women have little girl voices. It’s a cultural thing. She might have picked it up from her mother.
I think people need to remember that it’s not actually normal for one person to totally dominate a sport like Serena has. Usually it changes around, people have more ups and downs. That is why she’s the GOAT. We shouldn’t expect someone like her to rise now – champions like that are rare.
I do have to say though, that US Open was a disgrace. It may have been unfair and informed by sexism and racism; but another WOC was denied her moment and made to cry while being booed the day she won her first slam. That’s atrocious. Everyone involved should be ashamed.