Naomi Osaka has been the talk of the tennis world for a while now, and just like others, we don’t seem like getting tired of here anytime soon.
The 23-year old phenom is just beginning her career as one of the youngest players on tour and someone who has already made quite an impact.
Winning several tournaments by 2021 and with some of the best sponsors and endorsements for a tennis player regardless of gender, Naomi is at the top and doesn’t feel like she will be going anywhere.
After becoming Japan’s first Grand Slam champion in history, in addition to her impressive skills on the court, her net worth has also grown exponentially over the years.
This is only a small part of the history she has made so far, and we are up for the challenge of reviewing her career to this date, great achievements, but her wealth and earnings as well.
Childhood & Early Years: Behind the Tennis Player
Tennis players have always been quite popular among sports fans but also people who take the time to watch a few matches during the Olympics or most famous tournaments like the Grand Slam.
In our case, we love the sport because it always brings us new champions, following the all-time legends, and both women and men make history every single year.
Simply put, you don’t get tired of how things are going and turn out to be.
Now, among those stars and new champions, Naomi Osaka has come a long way to be considered one today.
Naomi Osaka was born on October 16, 1997, in Chūō-Ku, Osaka in Japan.
Although she was born in Japan, her mother is Tamaki Osaka, while her father is Leonard Francois, who was born in Jacmel, Haiti, meaning she is Japanese yet with American roots and family.
She also has an older sister, Mari, who is also a former professional tennis player. For practical reasons, the girls were named after their mother when they lived in Japan, which is why the last name follows ‘Osaka’ and not their father’s surname.
When she was only three years old, Osaka moved with her family from Japan to Valley Stream in New York.
After watching the Williams sisters play at the 1999 French Open, her father became inspired to teach his daughters tennis.
He had never been a professional tennis player and wanted to be able to teach his daughters properly, which is why he approached Richard Williams to help him teach them and become world-class players.
As a result, after they arrived in the United States, he began to coach Naomi and Mari and was followed by another process of moving when Naomi’s family moved to Florida in 2006 when she was eight years old for her to have better training opportunities.
She was homeschooled during the day and practiced at the Pembroke Pines courthouses during the week.
She began working at the ISP Academy with Patrick Trauma when she was fifteen years old. She moved to the Harold Solomon Tennis Academy in 2014. Later, she trained at the ProWorld Tennis Academy.
Although Naomi and her sister were raised in the United States, their parents decided they would represent Japan when competing to the point of stating that the girls felt Japanese from a very young age. They loved the idea to represent the country where they were born, and their parents loved it so much that they stated, “We decided that Naomi would represent Japan at an earlier age.”
In the beginning, this wasn’t seen as a problem for the USA. Still, when Naomi, in particular (and the one we are covering), started to shine in the Tennis world, the United States Tennis Association offered her the chance to train in their national training center in Boca Raton when she was 16 years old.
However, she completely declined the offer and continued with her current center and trainers.
Inside Her Tennis Career
With the details about her training and how she was introduced to this world, we can move on with the interesting part: Her career so far.
Although many believe she appeared out of nowhere, Naomi has built her reputation and career for a long time, and we are here to let your know-how.
For starters, Osaka stands at 5’11” and skipped most junior tournaments to start on pro satellite tours following the lead of Venus and Serena after the inspiration of his father that was passed down to her.
As a result, in 2013, Osaka became a pro when she was still 15 years old and entered her first two qualifying draws on the WTA Tour during her debut as a pro in both singles and doubles.
By 2015, she joined several tournaments, including qualifying for the Grand Slam singles events but wasn’t that strong during her performance. However, she closed the year by winning the Rising Stars Invitational four-player exhibition tournament.
Moving on with 2016, she was named “Newcomer-of-the Year” by the Women’s Tennis Association. She entered the top 50 WTA rankings during her performance throughout the year that included defeating the then No. 21 in the ranking, Elina Svitolina, in straight sets.
In March 2018, Osaka won her first WTA tour title at Indian Wells in California and then went to win the U.S. Open in September 2018. With this, she became the first Japanese player ever to win a Grand Slam title.
Osaka won the Australian Open in January 2019 and became the first player to win the next major title since 2001, after her first Grand Slam victory.
Naomi has also crowned the No. 1 player in the world during that year, and right now, in 2021, she is set at No. 5. However, in 2019, it was the first for any Asian male or female player to be at the top of the ranking.
During all these years, she went through several “hands” when it came to training.
She parted ways with Sascha Bajin once the 2019 Australian Open was finished, even when they shared lots of time training and was her coach for her Grand Slam titles.
There isn’t a specific explanation for this, but it is said to be no other but different roads to take.
During this year, she was often hampered by a knee injury and had difficulties on the court for much of 2019.
As a result, Wimbledon was Osaka’s worst disappointment, as she failed to make it past the first day.
However, this was followed by how she displayed her sportsmanship at the U.S. Open 2019 by inviting Coco Gauff, her defeated opponent, to join her for a post-match interview because she didn’t want the younger person to cry.
Part of the last months of her career includes winning the 2020 U.S. Open by defeating Victoria Azarenka 6-6, 6-3, and 6-3 in the final match.
She also went to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to represent Japan but was defeated during the third round of singles.
Naomi Osaka’s Achievements: Awards & Victories
Although we mentioned most of her top achievements, we want to make sure we aren’t missing anything.
And, as we have mentioned so far, we know she is just starting her best years, and we can’t wait to add more achievements to this list later on:
- Best Female Tennis Player ESPY Award (2021).
- Best Female Athlete ESPY Award (2021).
- Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2020).
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year (2020).
- Laureus World Sports Awards for Sportswoman of the Year (2021).
- Laureus World Award for Breakthrough of the Year (2019).
- BET Award for Sportswoman of the Year (2021).
- Glamour Award for Sports Gamechanger (2021).
- Australian Open Champion in Women’s Singles (2019).
- U.S. Open Champion (2018).
- No. 1 Player on January 28, 2019.
Making Money: Naomi’s Earnings & Salaries
Believe it or not, Osaka ranks as one of the highest-paid athletes of the moment while also being the highest-paid woman in tennis and sports.
Many would believe it is a bit too much for someone who just started her career less than a decade ago in terms of going pro, and the recent years are what represent most of her growth.
However, it isn’t only about her game but also her popularity, how much people look up to her, and how she has been training to make everyone and herself proud.
Thus, you have to consider endorsements, sponsors, and off-the-field earnings.
According to Forbes, which ranks her at #12 as the highest-paid athlete with $5 million from on-the-field earnings and $55 million from off-the-field.
As you can see, Naomi earns much more due to how commercial she is besides being a rising star in tennis.
She has even set a record for female athletes for the second year straight, following Forbes’ list from 2020.
The endorsement deals that are bringing millions to her pocket are due to her back-to-back Grand Slam wins in the U.S. Open and Australian Open.
Some of her partners and endorsement companies include Workday, Louis Vuitton, and Airbnb.
Thanks to her victory in the U.S. Open in 2018, she also signed an endorsement deal with Nissan, which is ongoing and providing her millions.
Other major endorsements come from Nike and MasterCard, who openly support her and signed at least a three-year deal.
Finally, her money is also invested in a $6.9 million mansion in Beverly Hills that singer Joe Jonas owned.
What Awaits Her
Many thought her performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was disappointing, and that set her in a low setting for many fans and people fans of the sport.
However, if you ask us, we will never get tired of mentioning how she will continue to grow in the following years.
Osaka is known for being hardworking and is always looking for a new title, achievement, and award.
For sure, she has also won people’s hearts, including the ones from celebrities and people she looks up to, like Serena Williams, her long-time inspiration thanks to her father.
In the upcoming years, we just expect to add more zeros to her net worth, which clearly stands at $60 million with the pass numbers we mentioned, and more titles to her achievement’s list so far.
Naomi Osaka’s Top Quotes to Motivate Yourself
- “You can easily get depressed. Usually, if you play sports, you think that one match or one game is very important, and when you lose it, you think your whole world is over.”
- “I don’t think you can win a Grand Slam and not be confident in yourself.”
- “Ever since I can remember, I played better against bigger players on bigger courts.”
- “I didn’t play that well, but honestly, I think at a time like this with that scoreline, I would usually feel very depressed and sad.”
- “I’m always smiling.”
Here’s Our #1 Recommended Online Business Model:
Interested in starting an online business to build passive income? Check out the local lead gen business model. Click here to learn more.
