Venus and Serena Williams Emerge in Naomi Osaka’s Emotional Revelation on the Role-Model Burden

With great fame comes even greater responsibilities! There’s no one who understands this better right now than Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka. At just 26, Osaka is already a household name, celebrated for her powerful game and trailblazing presence on and off the court. Currently, she’s making waves at the Canadian Open. Osaka made a remarkable start, defeating Ons Jabeur in the first round, a victory that has everyone talking. Behind the scenes, Osaka has a significant toll on her mind to deal with. 

After whisking out Jabeur, the tennis sensation had a chit-chat with several of her fans. She signed a lot of autographs at the center court and agreed to numerous selfies. This caught the attention of the tennis fans, who hailed the humble nature of the star player. But Osaka saw this as an opportunity to become a guiding light for many bubbling players.

When quizzed about the importance of representation for her, revolving around all the “black boys and girls and Asian boys and girls” who come to watch her play, Osaka expressed her true self. “I think for me, representation is really important. I’ve thought that way since I was younger. I know I wouldn’t be here without my role models, Serena and Venus. Just to, I guess, blaze that path for other kids is really cool,” she said in the post-match interview. And this is not the first time when Osaka has made such remarks for the Williams sisters.

After Serena’s retirement in 2022, Osaka revealed how the American star changed the perspective of the game for many, who could never imagine themselves on the tennis courts. “She changed the sport so much. She’s introduced people that have never heard of tennis into the sport. I think I’m a product of what she’s done. I wouldn’t be here without Serena, Venus, her whole family.” Coming back to her latest interview, Osaka shared the importance of the word “role model” for herself. 

“Since becoming a mom I think the word “role model” has always been heavy to me, but now it’s like I’m looking at kids looking at me and saying that I’m their favorite player, and knowing that they have a parent behind them that’s kind of trusting me with that is really huge.”

Chatting further in the interview, she highlighted that if her daughter Shai will have a poster of any player growing up, the tennis star would not fail to do proper research about the athlete. “I really feel the trust and I think it definitely means a lot to me, so I try to pay it back.” But the journey has not been easy for the star player lately.

Osaka has failed to clinch anything significant in her tennis career ever since she made a comeback after the long 15-month hiatus following the birth of her daughter. In fact, her latest run at the Olympics was marred in the first round itself where she lost to Angelique Kerber. But despite the challenges she has faced, she finds the motivation to play because of her daughter. 

Osaka’s daughter Shai is the biggest motivation for the Japanese player

The 4-time Grand Slam winner is once again eyeing bigger at the American hard courts. Having won the US Open twice, she must be determined to demonstrate that the fire in her belly has not been doused. And the biggest motivator in keeping it alive is her 1YO daughter, Shai.

Speaking ahead of her campaign in Toronto, Osaka revealed the demotivation she faced initially. Happines came from winning and performing great in matches. “I defined my worth a lot by like whether I won or lost and now I would say for example I lost in the Olympics I was of course really devastated.” However, she highlighted how her daughter gives her the vibrancy to come back stronger.

After seeing her daughter and watching her happy just to be alive kept her motivated. “She’s happy that I’m her mom for some reason and it just gave me a lot I guess motivation.” As the tennis star is once again back in the arena, it would be interesting to see if this motivation can help her win remarkably on the hard courts.