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Naomi Wants the World to Know Haiti for Its Beauty and Its Cuisine

"I have no problem becoming an ambassador for my father’s country. Haiti deserves to be known by the world for its magnificent beauty and especially its delicious cuisine ” Osaka

Noami Osaka, who was born from a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, visited Haiti recently in her effort to learn and connect more with her father’s country. The young superstar, who defeated Venus Williams recently in the second round tournament in Hong Kong expresses her interest in being an ambassador for Haiti. “I have no problem becoming an ambassador for my father’s country. Haiti deserves to be known by the world for its magnificent beauty and especially its delicious cuisine ” Osaka said during a press conference at the Karibe Hotel.Osaka who was raised in Japan, and started to play tennis at the age of 3, admits that she always hear negative things about Haiti, and she wanted to find out for herself, and that is why this year she decides to come to Haiti. “I am grateful for this experience; I had the opportunity to visit Jacmel, where I visited several beautiful beaches,” she said. although it is her first time in Haiti, Osaka was able to experience this beautiful sunny country, and she does not want to keep it for herself, she wants to share it with the world.The 20 years old, Naomi Osaka has a very promising tennis career, and she says her parents have been very supportive. This experience changes her life, and her perception about Haiti and she is determined to help educate the world about the natural beauty of Haiti and everything it has to offer.By Davidson Toussaint for Davidson Toussaint.com | October 31, 2017

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US Open 2018: Naomi Osaka, the new face of tennis, gears up for another battle against 'biggest idol' Serena Williams

Today, for the first time in the history of women’s tennis, a Japanese player made the finals of a Grand Slam. That player is Naomi Osaka, currently ranked No 19 on the WTA Tour and poised for a top 10 breakthrough. Now, she faces her “biggest idol” — one she shares with millions — Serena Williams, who, in the year after giving birth to her daughter, has now already made two Grand Slam finals.Osaka was born in Osaka in October of 1997, over two years after her idol and now rival at the US Open, went professional. With the option to sign with the United States Tennis Association, Osaka’s father chose to sign her to where he said she found significantly more support: The Japanese Tennis Federation, which is incidentally the earliest-founded tennis federation in Asia. Osaka herself has lived in the United States since she was three years old.

Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese women's player to reach a Grand Slam final. AP

Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese women's player to reach a Grand Slam final. AP

In so many ways, their courses through the tennis court have been similar and yet so different. Born to a Japanese mother and a Haitian-American father, Naomi Osaka has had to face racial prejudice and assumptions through her relatively young career so far. In a 2016 interview, Osaka said Japanese locals were often left surprised when they saw her. “When I go to Japan, people are confused. From my name, they don’t expect to see a black girl," she revealed.It goes without saying that the Williams sisters have had a transformational effect on tennis  but this effect is so much more significant for athletes of color. Venus and Serena have been the biggest female athletes of colour since Althea Gibson, who was the first person of colour in the history of tennis to win a Grand Slam — at the 1956 French Open. In a sport that has been pushing to become more inclusive, the WTA’s top 20 features Osaka herself, her semi-final competitor Madison Keys, and defending US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Each of the three — not to mention a number in the top 20 — cite Serena Williams as the biggest, most significant inspiration and for many, the reason they began playing tennis. It is truly staggering just how much one significant idol can change the face of a sport, and Serena Williams has been that idol.This year, Osaka played Williams at the Miami Open and trounced her in straight sets. But a Grand Slam is a different beast, and Serena, with 23 (as of now) has more Grand Slam titles than the years Naomi Osaka has been on earth. That win might have been followed up by a drubbing to Elina Svitolina, but for Osaka, it followed her first Premier title at Indian Wells, where she defeated former No 1 Maria Sharapova in the first round, and then handed World No 1 Simona Halep a bagel in the semi-finals before taking home the trophy as the tournament’s first unseeded champion in over a decade. That win came 13 years after a certain Belgian player named Kim Clijsters achieved the feat in 2005.2018 has been Osaka’s best year so far, but the tall ace showed promise early on. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in July 2014 — less than a year after she went pro, the then 16-year-old beat 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur with serves that came in at just under 200km/h, giving plenty of people plenty of reasons to sit up and take notice. She also saved match point against the experienced former World No 4 as much as a mental game as it is physical.Both women are tall. Serena at 5’ 9” and Osaka at a staggering 5'11", and it is a fact that other than Serena Williams, Osaka has one of the most powerful serves on the current women’s tour. Big forehands, aggressive baseline play. Sound familiar? That might be because Serena is one of Osaka’s biggest idols. “I’ve always wanted to play her.”Indeed, both their styles are very reminiscent of one another and in a few ways, different. Both play aggressively from the baseline, but while Osaka focuses on a powerful forehand, Serena has a more all-round game which of course, also comes from experience. Osaka’s serves have speed but then, so always have those of Serena, who has the added advantage of having one of the most powerful serves in the history of tennis. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill and currently, Serena is still very much in them. While Osaka has a more offensive style of play, Serena has always managed both the offensive and defensive game with aplomb. Williams is also known for her consistent aces, especially at critical times — something she has been doing even more than usual in recent years — while Osaka’s serves are consistent and speedy, her ace delivery is not frequent.Last year, Osaka made perhaps the biggest stride forward in her career when she enlisted Sascha Bajin to be her coach. The Serbian-born German player was on the ITF circuit in 2007 when he received a call-up to be the hitting partner of a professional tennis player — Serena Williams. From a hitting partner, Bajin has evolved over the years into more of a coach, and worked with former No 1s Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, with whom he parted ways only last year, before taking Osaka under his wing.Bajin himself highlights perhaps the biggest difference between the two players. Serena Williams is known to be one of the most outgoing players on the tour, and her drive spills over from her professional life into the personal, and vice versa. On the other hand, Osaka is more reserved, and although she can fire big shots that are reminiscent of Serena, she does not have the on-court aggression that has become a trademark of Williams’ game.Similarities and differences in game aside, Osaka has established herself quickly as one of the funniest characters off the court  even if she is a bit shy. Known for her quick, dry humour, Osaka said the Serena win at Indian Wells was her ‘second-favourite’ win, second to her victory over her sister Mari. When Osaka met her other idolVenus Williams at the WTA Finals in 2016, she stood around the former No 1 in awe, and in typical Naomi Osaka fashion, said at the time she thought she was “kind of creeping her out.” Her social media is further evidence to her dry brand of humour:

Osaka’s Indian Wells acceptance speech was one for the ages. Prefacing it by warning the crowd it might be the “worst acceptance speech ever”, she thanked rival Daria Kasatkina and her team, then her own team for “putting up with me”, and the “awesome ball kids.” Stumbling over her own words, she consistently had the crowd in stitches.On Serena Williams: “I was really impressed by her and wanted to play like her when I was little. Well, I hope I’m starting to play like her now,” Osaka said at the start of her professional career. Once described by Serena as “talented and dangerous”, Naomi Osaka is both of those things and a package of talent, honesty and hilarity all rolled into one.In the years since her debut, Osaka has picked up more conversational Japanese, and says she can “understand almost everything”, which has endeared her significantly to what is now a loyal Japanese fan base.Osaka is nothing if not open, and a refreshing change from the manicured, curated speeches and public images so many athletes have today. Youthful but not necessarily exuberant, Naomi Osaka is the new face of tennis: a talent for her generation, a receiver of a baton that has not yet been passed and this weekend, a young tennis star who faces her biggest idol across the net once again.

By: Anuradha Santhanam for firstpost.com | September 7, 2018

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Naomi Osaka Reaches US Open Semifinals

NEW YORK -- Naomi Osaka charged into the first Grand Slam semifinal by a Japanese woman in 22 years, routing Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday in the US Open quarterfinals.The No. 20 seed continued what's been a largely dominant run through the draw by winning in just 57 minutes, the third time in her five matches she didn't even have to play an hour.She raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set and then 4-0 in the second against the shaky Tsurenko, who finished with more unforced errors than points in her first major quarterfinal.Osaka will face either 14th-seeded Madison Keys or No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro in the first major semifinal appearance for a Japanese woman since Kimiko Date reached the final four at Wimbledon in 1996.Osaka, who was born in Japan but moved to the U.S. at age 3, was followed on Arthur Ashe Stadium by Kei Nishikori facing Marin Cilic in a men's quarterfinal.Together, Osaka and Nishikori were the first Japanese woman and man to make the quarterfinals of the same Grand Slam since Date and Shuzo Matsuoka at Wimbledon in 1995.The 20-year-old said she was nervous, claiming to be "freaking out inside" -- though it certainly never showed."Just like my entire body was shaking, so I'm really glad I was able to play well today," she said.She won 59 points to just 28 for the unseeded Ukrainian, who knocked off No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.But after laboring through the heat in her previous match, Tsurenko said she was sick Wednesday, waking up with a sore throat and not breathing well."Unfortunately during this tournament I had many issues with my health, and today was not my day obviously. I was not feeling well," she said.Osaka had consecutive 50-minute matches earlier in the tournament, including a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the third round.She was finally tested in the round of 16, edging past No. 26 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a little more than 2 hours, but she was back in complete control against Tsurenko, winning 20 of 22 points (91 percent) on her first serve.Tsurenko labored in the heat during her fourth-round victory over Marketa Vondrousova, having her temperature and blood checked during a medical timeout in the first set and nearly quitting when she trailed early in the second. She recovered to win in three sets, with her opponent accusing her of acting after the match.It was another hot afternoon Wednesday, with temperatures in the high 80s but feeling some 10 degrees hotter with the humidity.Tsurenko didn't appear bothered by the conditions, but whether it was her health or just first-time jitters, she was off from the minute she stepped onto Arthur Ashe Stadium.She pushed some balls a few feet past the baseline, often failing to make Osaka do anything special to win a point and finishing with 31 unforced errors."I hate matches like this," Tsurenko said. "I didn't want to show this kind of game in front of this big crowd, but unfortunately I'm just not able to play now."By: Associated Press via ESPN.com| September 5, 2018

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19-Year-Old Haitian/Japanese Tennis Player, Naomi Osaka, knocks out Angelique Kerber in straight sets

When the 2017 U.S. Open draw came out on Friday, defending champion Angelique Kerber's first round match was highlighted and circled on a lot of draw sheets. On Tuesday, Haitian/Japanese tennis player, Naomi Osaka, proved why.Under the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy day at Flushing Meadows, 19-year-old Osaka out-played the two-time Grand Slam finalist, winning 6-3, 6-1 in just over an hour to advance to the second round. The victory marked Osaka's first top 10 win of her career.After retiring with an abdominal injury in Toronto earlier this month, World No. 45 Osaka hoped to be healthy for the final major of 2017. A year ago at the U.S. Open, Osaka led Madison Keys in a third round match on Arthur Ashe but was unable to close. ​On Tuesday, Osaka simply out-hit Kerber, blasting winners all over the court and putting any memories of last year's disappointing U.S. Open exit behind her. Osaka finished with 22 winners and 17 unforced errors to Kerber's nine winners and 23 unforced errors.Kerber is only the second U.S. Open women's champion in the Open Era to lose in the first round the following year (Kuznetsova, 2005). After reaching No. 1 a year ago when she won her second Grand Slam of the year in New York, Kerber has not won a tournament since her victory at the 2016 U.S. Open. The German also lost in the first round at the French Open in May and bowed out in the Round of 16 at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.With Tuesday's loss, Kerber, who was seeded sixth at the U.S. Open, will drop out of the top 10 in the WTA rankings.Jamie Lisanti, SI

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