Naomi Osaka has always considered Serena Williams as her idol for her achievements in tennis and beyond. The Japanese sensation seems to have successfully followed her childhood idol to become a sheer icon during the brief tennis American summer that has just concluded.

Naomi refused to play the semifinal at the Western & Southern Open in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake to force both the WTA and the ATP to postpone the final 4s of 1 day. Then Osaka hit the headlines when she decided to walk to her US Open matches with 7 different masks wearing 7 names of people victims of racism before and after her 7 matches. Naomi didn’t “just” protest during the US Open, but she ended up winning the all thing to give more meaning and reach to her message.

Naomi was put by the Time in the list of the 100 most influential people in 2020 in the “category” related to the icons!

As per Maya Moor words:

“It took humility and grace to point beyond what she was doing, winning on one of the biggest stages in her craft, at something more important.

She reminded us that we can all resist the excuses that guard us from giving love. Whatever power we have, the most lasting and life-­giving way we can steward that power is by using it to lift others up. Especially those who aren’t exactly like us.

Because we need each other. We need the fullness of humanity. Sports can uniquely beckon this truth.

If somebody like Naomi can have the courage to use what she has to call people higher, then we can too.”

 

Naomi Osaka in 2020

Now the world no.3, Osaka played her last match on the 12th of September when she defeated Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.

This year the Japanese has a 16-3 win-loss record. The Japanese clinched 1 title at the U.S. Open. Naomi was the finalist in New York.

Serena Williams in 2020

Now ranked no.9, the American played her last match on the 10th of September when she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the semifinal of the U.S. Open.

During this season Serena Williams has a 16-5 win-loss record. The American has won 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 locked horns, Serena Williams won 6-3 6-4 in the quarter in Toronto (Rogers Cup) in August 2019.

You can see them in action in the following highlights.