Naomi Osaka Becomes the Lone Tennis Player to Feature in an Elite Popularity List Alongside Lebron James and Stephen Curry

Over the years, tennis has grown manifold in popularity. We have seen players like Serena Williams and Roger Federer contribute a lot in that regard. However, with time, the main market and target audience have changed. With the influx of social media and the internet, sports earn more from Gen Z. While there are many good performers in this age group, only Naomi Osaka has gained significant popularity.

Gen Z here refers to the population between the age of 13-25. This age group has access to and knowledge of modern sports consumption and makes up a fair share of the viewership market. In a recent survey, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is the only tennis player who featured in the list of most popular athletes among Gen Z.

Naomi Osaka is the only tennis player popular among Gen Z in the US

The age group of 13-25 is what forms the backbone of sports viewership. The generation that falls in this category has a love and passion for sports which generally fades away with growing age. As per a survey in the US, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is the only tennis player on the list of most popular sports stars for Gen Z viewers alongside the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

The list largely consists of NBA and NFL players. Osaka earned a great deal of success very early in her career. The 24-year-old has four Grand Slam titles to her name. Out of these two came in the US Open. Osaka’s success in US might be a major factor for her popularity among the American Gen Z. Further, the 24-year-old herself falls in the age bracket of Gen Z and is one of their own.

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However, in the past few years, we have seen the rise of two more consistent Gen Z WTA stars. The first one is world number 1 Iga Swiatek, while the second one is America’s own Coco Gauff.

Osaka continues to struggle after mental health break

Naomi Osaka was going very strong until last year’s French Open. The Japanese shocked everyone when she withdrew from the Roland Garros midway. The reason she cited was the mental health issue. After taking a long break, she made her return to the court. However, she has looked like a shadow of her own glorious past.

In an injury-plagued season, she failed to qualify for the later rounds of most of the tournaments she played this year. Returning to the French Open, she lost her first-round match before pulling out of the Wimbledon Championships in 2022.

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Further, the 24-year-old again crashed out of the first round in the US Open as well. With a new season, we hope Osaka starts afresh and gets back to her old form.