‘I Was So Jealous’ – Naomi Osaka’s ‘Grinding’ Tale as a Child Amidst Father’s Struggles To Keep the Tennis Dream Alive

Recently, Naomi Osaka, a tennis player from Japan, appeared on Stephen Colbert’s late show. Osaka was there to discuss the release of her most recent children’s book. She also covered a wide range of other topics, such as her personal life and career as a tennis player. She recalled an instance during a summer vacation when she was envious of everyone around her during one of these conversations.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has been absent from the tennis circuit since the most recent Tokyo Open walkover. She wanted to concentrate on her debut children’s book, “the way Champs play.” She will next be seen competing at the Australian Open, kicking off her upcoming tennis season.

Naomi Osaka shares a ‘grinding’ story from her childhood 

The Japanese tennis player appeared on the late show. And Colbert showed him a picture from her early years when she was probably just 5 years old. The former world number one responded to his question by stating that she doesn’t really recollect much from that period. However, she did remember a few situations. She described one such incident regarding a summer trip where she was envious of her friend surrounding her.

She said, “Yes, so I remember like grinding on those courts and my dad actually I don’t know if I should tell you this. I just remember like watching all the other kids like take their summer vacation and we had to be on the courts, which I am happy he made us do it now, but like at that time I was so jealous of everyone else. I think I was like five, maybe.”

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Osaka actually started playing tennis when she was just three years old. Since then, every summer vacation, she, along with her father, used to practice on the tennis courts. And the other kids used to spend their summer vacation differently. However, at that time, the tennis player was too young and was jealous of everyone, regardless of how much that thing has helped her today. 

Naomi Osaka’s equation with her parents

The four-time Grand Slam champion is super close with her parents. And shares a great equation with her father Leonard Francois and her mother Tamaki Osaka. Nevertheless, both of her parents were so determined for her career that they moved to Florida so she could have better training opportunities to grow. 

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Not only that, her father has joined the four-time Grand Slam champion in the coaching run after leaving her coaching team back in 2018. He joined back Osaka’s coaching team earlier this year as she believes that her father makes her think more outside of the box.