Naomi Osaka has always stated that she had Serena and Venus Williams as her childhood heroes. The Japanese had a rather lovely interview with the Vogue Magazine when she shared how was the first time that she met Serena.
Naomi revealed: “The first time I was very starstruck was probably seeing Serena for the first time. I said how much I loved her in an interview and then the tournament set up this fan meeting for me. She came and hugged me.”
When asked if she stayed in touch with her since then, Naomi commented: “Actually, it’s not like she gave me her number when I was in the room with her. That would be kind of creepy.”
Later on, Naomi went on beating Serena in Indian Wells and, of course, in the US Open final back in 2018. Even if their clash in New York sparked a lot of controversies as Serena went ballistic with the chair umpire, the American legend was extremely gracious with Naomi after the match.
Naomi Osaka’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.10, the Japanese played her last match on the 7th of February when she was defeated by Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0 6-3 in the Rubber 1 of the Fed Cup.
Naomi Osaka’s best result of the present year was reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane.
Serena Williams’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.9, the American played her last match on the 8th of February when she capitulated to Anastasija Sevastova 7-65 3-6 7-64 in the Rubber 4 of the Fed Cup.
At the moment, this season the American has a 8-2 win-loss record. Serena conquered 1 title in Auckland.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Osaka. The last time that they competed against each other, Serena Williams won 6-3 6-4 in the quarter in Toronto (Rogers Cup) in August 2019.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
