SUMMARY
- Naomi Osaka was financially struggling when she began playing tennis.
- Naomi Osaka's father used to spend his days on the court training his daughter for her career.
Naomi Osaka has had an arduous journey during her process of becoming a professional player. She had to struggle with the funding as her mother was working multiple jobs. Meanwhile, Osaka’s father was spending time with her in court. Leonard Francois and Tamaki Osaka were supportive of their daughter’s ambition from the start. The couple still motivated Osaka.
At present, Osaka is one of the highest-paid tennis players on the WTA tour. But things were totally different at the start. Other than finance, there were security concerns for Osaka and Leonard. While the father-daughter duo spent hours in court, onlookers called the police multiple times to check on them.
3-year old Naomi Osaka practicing with her father on a public tennis court in New York City. pic.twitter.com/BHSEJC1wiP
— Tanya ↗️ (@ScriptedTanya) October 26, 2022
The incident has been written about in Osaka’s biography, Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice. Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg authored the book. It was published at the start of this season during Osaka’s comeback to the game at Brisbane International.
“Tamaki has said onlookers and park administrators repeatedly called police on the family to interrupt the long hours Leonard spent training his daughters on the courts,” wrote Rothenberg. He also mentioned that Naomi’s mother, Tamaki, attributed that to their ethnicity believing that it happened because of their color as tennis is predominantly a white sport.
Naomi Osaka records shocking defeat at 2024 Australian Open
The 2024 Australian Open was Osaka’s first grand slam appearance since the 2022 US Open. She was up against Caroline Garcia in the opening round. It was their second meeting on the tour, and the former world No.1 had won their previous meeting at Melbourne in straight sets three years ago. This time, Garcia looked more in control as Osaka was still getting adjusted to the conditions in court.
The Spaniard had better movement on the court and more energy to spare. Osaka’s groundstrokes were faster than her opponent’s, but they needed to be more consistent. She did not come forward to attack at the net, unlike Garcia, who won seven points out of net in the front. The 16th seed was aggressive on the returns, which constantly kept Osaka in the backfoot.
The first-round defeat was Osaka’s worst performance at Melbourne. It was the only slam where she did not have an opening-round loss. The 26-year-old could not convert chances in the second set and looked exhausted at the end of the match. Osaka will need more time on the court to get used to the intensity of the tour. Fans will hope she gets back more vital in the next event on the hardcourts.