Naomi Osaka rise in the game of tennis has been a remarkable journey. The player was born in Osaka, Japan to her Japanese mother and a Haitian father. The family moved to America where she grew up. On turning pro, Osaka decided to represent her country of birth, Japan. She became the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam title and achieve the number one position on the tennis rankings. The former world number one was recently in action at the Toray Pacific Open in Japan where she won the title.
Distasteful jokes
Osaka defeated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final to win the tournament held in her birth city of Osaka. She expressed her joy at finally winning the Open at her third attempt. After her victory, controversy emerged after two Japanese comedians made jokes regarding her looks. The comedy group known as A Masso joked that the current world number four was “too sunburned” and that she “needed some bleach.” The two female comedians who go by Kano and Murakami were speaking at a live event.
An apology from the duo
After making the remarks on Sunday, the two women have since apologized. They issued an apology regretting the statements they had made. Though they did not mention Osaka in their apology, they said that the comments they made were inappropriate and hurtful. The two added that they were sorry for the remarks which had made people uncomfortable since the event. Their management agency Watanabe Entertainment also issued an apology for the behavior of the two comedians. The agency said that the comments were inconsiderate of diversity in an era where diversity was respected, emphasizing that the two comedians had been warned and reprimanded.
This is not the first time Osaka is finding herself in controversy over her looks. With Japan mainly a racially homogeneous country, mixed heritage individuals like Osaka struggle to gain acceptance. Earlier this year, noodle company Nissin ran an animated advert portraying the former world number one as having white skin and light brown hair. The company was accused of ‘whitening’ the 21-year-old and was forced to take down the advert. It issued an apology to Osaka stating that it had not been sensitive enough. Osaka accepted the apology but said she would like to be consulted before such decisions about her appearance were made.
Naomi Osaka’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.4, the Japanese played her last match on the 22nd of September when she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3 in the final in Osaka to win her 3rd career title.
This year the Japanese has a 33-11 win-loss record. The Japanese clinched 2 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open and in Osaka.
Naomi Osaka |
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