At 22 years of age, Naomi Osaka is already considered a superstar. The Japanese sensation was the highest-paid female athlete in 2019, according to Forbes Magazine. Even more importantly, the world no.3 seems to carry on the legacy established by her childhood heroes Venus and Serena Williams.
Claudia Rankine on Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams
Yale University professor and essayist Claudia Rankine is well-known for her thoughts about the black community and its struggle. During a recent interview, she talked about how inspiring Naomi Osaka was in being so vocal to defend the Black Lives Matter movement.
“In the past, you’ve written about Serena Williams. Now you turn to Naomi Osaka, whose Japanese mother was disowned for being with a Haitian man. Now she is the No. 1 female athlete in the world, wearing masks at the 2020 U.S. Open with the names Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery,” said Claudia.
Then Rankine talked about Naomi taking on the legacy of Venus and Serena. She was particularly impressed by how vocal the Japanese ace was compared to some other athletes such as Sloane Stephens and Taylor Townsend.
Claudia was also impressed by how Serena embraced Naomi’s rise, especially during and after their controversial 2018 final.
“Serena’s match against Naomi in 2018 was a really moving moment, where we saw Osaka play a game very similar to Serena’s, but she’s younger, she’s a little bit faster, and this person was her mentor. I felt that even as Serena was upset during that match, she was able to embrace Naomi, because the fans were able to embrace Serena. They supported Serena and then Serena supported Osaka. It showed you how reciprocity can work.”
Finally, Rankine mentioned how incredible Naomi was when she forced the Western & Southern Open to stop when she refused to play the semifinal when scheduled. Eventually, the ATP and WTA tours had to postpone the semifinals of 1 day.
“To see now Osaka moving into the arena of protest and literally by herself shutting down the tournament before the U.S. Open — it’s nice to see her take the mantle,” she added.
Naomi Osaka in 2020
Currently ranked no.3, the Japanese played her last match on the 12th of September when she overcame Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
This year Osaka has a 16-3 win-loss record. The Japanese conquered 1 title at the U.S. Open. Osaka got to the final in New York.
It is not clear if Naomi will be back to competitions this year. Probably, she may play the WTA FInals if they are going to be staged.
Serena Williams in 2020
Now the world no.10, Serena was supposed to play on the 30th of September. However, she conceded a walk over to Tsvetana Pironkova in the 2nd round of the French Open.
Presently, this year Serena has a composed 17-5 record. Serena 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 played, 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.
