Naomi Osaka, The New Queen Of Women's Tennis

There Was a gamut of emotions that filled up the air, in the Australian Open women’s final. Cry of ‘come on’, clenched fists, shouting winners, nerves, a jiggle at the finish line before Naomi

Osaka moved across. She then went down on the court, head bent, leaning against her racket. Her moment in the middle was truly marvelous. Osaka stayed there for a moment as the Rod Laver Arena posed to a man applauding. Slowly she rose to her feet, a smile gleaming across her face as she took her position among the stars of the game.

Naomi Osaka won over Petra Kvitova 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 in the final

The 21-year-old Osaka is also the first tennis player from Japan to reach No. 1 in the rankings

Osaka added this trophy to the one she won by defeating Serena Williams in the US Open final last September

Osaka’s Career Growth

Though Osaka was grown up in the US, she was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother. She lived in the United States since she was three years old. She came to limelight at the age of sixteen when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her first WTA Tour at the 2014 Stanford Classic. Two years later, she played her first WTA final in 2016 Pan Pacific Open in Japan and placed herself among the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Osaka made her breakthrough into the upper rank of women's tennis in 2018 when she won her first WTA title at the Indian Wells Open. In September, she won the US Open, beating 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the final to become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. She won her second Grand Slam title in January 2019, when she won the Australian Open, becoming the first Asian player to be the world's number one.

Osaka’s Early Life

Osaka’s first coach was her father Leonard Francois since she was three years old. Patrick Tauma was one of her first professional coaches after she started playing on the ITF Women's Circuit. She was coached by Patrick when she reached her first ITF final in 2013. In 2014, she received seven months of training at an academy run by Harold Solomon, a former top-five player,  and French Open finalist. Many top women tennis players including Jennifer Capriati and Mary Joe Fernandez were coached by Harold. Under Solomon, Osaka beat Sam Stosur for her first WTA match win.

Osaka’s Personality

Osaka is known as an aggressive player and her powerful serving style. Outside the court, she is known for her shy, reserved personality and her occasional natural humor.