For tennis player Naomi Osaka, her time in the sport has been a complete roller coaster. Throughout her career, she has experienced both the summit and the depths. That reality has shaped her into a resilient athlete who never surrenders; on the contrary, she learns from her mistakes and rises again with even greater strength.
She has already spent many years in the tennis world. She began at the age of three, practically a toddler. Since then, she has been a professional for a little over 16 years. With that in mind, the experiences she has accumulated are vast, and she has learned how to navigate the sport’s inevitable challenges.
Recently, Osaka spoke with Hypebeast, where the 28-year-old player opened up completely about what has already been a long journey in the world of tennis.
A life devoted to tennis by Naomi Osaka
When she first began her tennis career, Naomi Osaka had a clear objective: to win the major WTA tournaments and become the best player in the world. She has achieved some of those goals; in others, she has fallen short, but she has never given up in the attempt.
Everyone’s been inspired by the Williams (Serena and Venus) sisters. Whether they say it or not, they’ve definitely changed the game a lot.
She also added that today, for athletes, it is not only about performing well in tournaments, but also about maintaining peak physical condition and achieving successful recovery. For that reason, her role model is Novak Djokovic, because of how well he does it.
Now everyone’s figuring out their fitness level. I feel like that also has to do with Djokovic, to be honest.”…”He’s kind of set a precedent on understanding your body and putting in work to do all the recovery. He’s amazing. He just went to the Australian Open finals, and he’s still here fighting and winning.
Djokovic’s remarkable longevity has kept him at the top of the ATP rankings, contending for titles in nearly every tournament. Despite constant questions about retirement, he turns a deaf ear and continues delivering elite performances.
The key lies in his winning mentality, along with the meticulous care he gives his body, especially after completing a tournament. That is something Osaka genuinely admires and why she views him as a role model.
For Naomi, her career has featured major triumphs, including her US Open titles in 2018 and 2020, as well as her Australian Open victories in 2019 and 2021, which propelled her to world No. 1. She later stepped away to give birth, but she knows what it feels like to stand at the pinnacle.
After returning in 2024, she climbed to No. 59. In 2025, she sought to regain rhythm, though she fell short. Even so, she has not stopped striving to return to the top. Her resilience remains intact.
I would hope my legacy is that I’m someone who made it easier for the generation after. And also someone that made it easy for the people that are different or unique. For me, with my background being Japanese, Haitian, and American, I’ve just always been considered different.
By 2026, she has risen to No. 16 in the rankings and has no intention of stopping until she reaches at least the top three. It is a goal she pursues relentlessly, trusting that her body will respond; the mindset is already there.
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