Naomi Osaka had a rather uncharacteristic year. The Japanese sensation played only 4 tournaments in 2020 and she didn’t really shine in the first 2. In fact, she lost as early as in the 3rd round at the Australian Open and she reached just the semifinal in Brisbane. Later, Naomi looked to be completely out of sorts during the Davis Cup when she was blown away Sara Sorribes Tormo with a punishing 6-0 6-3 scoreline.
Naomi Osaka’s activism
However, Naomi found some new meaning during the lockdown especially after she started to voice her displeasure about the black community’s treatment in the US. Back to competitions, the world no.3 played only 2 tournaments in New York. She reached the Western & Southern Open final before conceding the walkover to Vika Azarenka (hamstring injury).
During the event, Naomi hit the headlines for refusing to play the semifinal on Thursday to protest about the shooting of Jacob Blake. That prompted the ATP and the WTA to postpone all the semis in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Naomi was absolutely impressive during the following fortnight when she won the US Open nursing the hamstring injury and getting to the court with 7 different masks carrying 7 names of people victim of racism.
Sports Illustrated magazine decided to honor 5 athletes for their 2020 off court activism. Naomi was named alongside the likes of NBA champion LeBron James, Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes, NFL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Women’s NBA champion Breanna Stewart.
Naomi Osaka in 2020
Now the world no.3, the Japanese played her last match on the 12th of September when she beat Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
This season the Japanese achieved a 16-3 record. Osaka has won 1 title at the U.S. Open. Naomi was the runner-up in New York.
