On October 5, Arina Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur and about twenty other players headed to the WTA with strict demands. In a three-page letter, the tennis players demanded guaranteed salaries, prize money equal to that of men, compensation in case of injury or maternity leave, a flexible tournament schedule and much more. Additionally, the world’s No. 2 racket at the time, Iga Swiatek, sent a separate letter to WTA management, noting that she was “part of a united front that wants real change.”
Related materials
Nadal complained of pain again: he has 23 injuries. Will the comeback in Australia fail?
In response, WTA director Steve Simon promised to improve conditions, but it is still clear that to be truly heard, girls need to have a true leader in their movement. It could be four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, who announced her return to tennis six months after her pregnancy. The American is introverted by nature; She often cried after defeats, but during the lockdown she realized that remaining silent in the face of internal and external problems was not an option. With her return (scheduled for January at the Australian Open), tennis bosses will definitely not have a quiet life.
Depression hit Naomi at the peak of her fame; she wanted to buy a farm and retire
In January 2019, Osaka won the second Slam of her career, showing a great game: a real machine, silent, confident and fiery. At least that’s how the American tennis player seemed to the fans. The most surprising thing is that, shortly after the victory in Melbourne, Naomi announced her separation from coach Sasha Bazhin, who joined her team at the beginning of 2018 and helped her reach the top. There were rumors about her conflict over money, but Osaka called it nonsense: “Money has nothing to do with it. I’m not going to say anything bad about Bazhin, I’m grateful for everything he did. However, I don’t want to put my success before happiness and comfort. “If I don’t like being around certain people, I won’t torture myself.”
Naomi with Coach Jenkins
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
During her breakup with Bazhin, the American sued her first coach, Christophe Jean, who claimed 20% of Osaka’s income. The specialist stated that when Noemí was 13 years old, his father could not pay for the training and signed an agreement to that effect. There was a lot of money at stake: Osaka’s prize money at the time was more than $10 million. The court ruled in favor of the girl and ruled that Jean’s claim was without merit.
Osaka’s team included Jermaine Jenkins, known as Venus Williams’ training partner. Naomi did not achieve outstanding results with it, in addition, she lost the title of first racket in the world. But it was while she was working with the dark-skinned Jermaine (important clarification) that the American woman experienced changes that significantly influenced her future life and career. In the summer of 2019, Osaka’s team was preparing for a tournament in Birmingham, and after one of the practices, Jenkins suggested watching the Netflix series “When They See Us.” The drama is based on the true story of five black teenagers from Harlem who were falsely accused of a brutal sexual assault in New York’s Central Park.
Related materials
The USSR champion survived the blockade. To save himself, he ate wood glue gelatin.
The series left an indelible impression on the tennis player, who at that time was going through certain internal contradictions, but could not face these signs. “One day I woke up before a game and thought: what is the meaning of my life? Maybe I should buy a farm and grow something? I thought about what might rekindle the spark in me. I sat and thought about it and then I had to go to the game. I played and cried, but in the end I won. Inside, I hoped to lose and not have to be there anymore,” Osaka broke the ceiling.
When asked “who am I?”, he attended the US Open final wearing a mask with the name of a murdered child.
Later, the tennis player associated it with overwork or exhaustion. He took a short break and then returned to playing in tournaments, but the attacks began to recur. Naomi decided that keeping her problems to herself was a characteristic of her character and that she would have to accept this reality. Watching “When They See Us” pierced the thick armor of Osaka’s cocoon, in which she consciously placed herself, trying not to notice or distance herself from the challenges that the outside world offered her. The main question that tormented Naomi was “who am I?”
Serena broke down in tears in 2018.
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
The athlete took the pandemic that began in 2020 and the resulting pause in performances as an opportunity to understand herself. The tennis player felt the urgent need to act after the involuntary killing of a black American, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer in May 2020. Osaka flew to Minneapolis with her boyfriend, rapper Cordae, days after the murder. She cried with residents, protested peacefully, and constantly asked herself what she could do to change the situation and keep people safe. Through this struggle, the tennis player sought self-expression and opened up.
Related materials
Sinner broke Djokovic’s curse. Alpine skiing and Sharapova’s advice helped
“For as long as I can remember, people have tried to define me. I’ve never fit any description, but people are quick to label me. Is she Japanese? American? Haitian? Black? Asian? See, I am all of this at the same time. I was born in Osaka, Japan, to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother. She spent her formative years in the United States. I am a daughter, sister, friend and girlfriend. I am Asian, I am black and I am a woman. I no longer ask who I am. “I’m Naomi Osaka,” the girl wrote in a fiery column in Esquire.
After another wave of protests in August of the same year, Naomi decided to withdraw from the semifinals of the Cincinnati tournament as a protest against racism. “I can’t play tennis because there are much more important things right now,” the American rebelled. A month later, she entered the 2020 US Open final wearing a mask bearing the name of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy shot dead by a white police officer in Cleveland in 2014.
Wearing a mask with the name of the boy who was shot
Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The resounding victory over Victoria Azarenka (1:6, 6:3, 6:3) allowed the American to briefly regain confidence and calm, as her previous success in New York in 2018 was overshadowed by the Serena Williams scandal with chair umpire Carlos Ramos. The opponent literally made it clear to Osaka that she won thanks to the referee’s mistakes, which brought the young champion to tears.
After the birth of her daughter, she found inner harmony and is ready for new victories.
Since then, Naomi decided that she would never keep her pain to herself; She didn’t care if someone didn’t like her or even cost her financial losses. In 2021 she felt psychological discomfort during Roland Garros and refused to speak to the press. For this, the American was fined 15 thousand dollars, and other “Helmets” strictly warned her not to allow herself such liberties in the future. In response, Naomi left Paris and withdrew from Wimbledon.
“I often get the feeling that people don’t take into account the mental health of athletes at all. The tension is especially high when I watch or participate in press conferences. We often sit down and are asked questions that we have been asked more than once, or questions that raise doubts in us. And I won’t waste my time on people who doubt me,” Naomi explained.
Noemí is in her last month of pregnancy
Photo: from Naomi Osaka’s personal archive.
Osaka spent time with family and friends before lighting the Olympics fire at her home in Tokyo and donating prize money from the Cincinnati tournament to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, where her father is from. Another step towards understanding oneself and the ability to influence this world is the tennis player’s agreement to film a series about herself. In late 2021, Naomi’s candid three-part story about growing up and exploring her cultural roots was released on Netflix. She “she is an incredible leader of her generation in the sense that she really chooses how and when she wants to use her voice. I think she’s a sign of strength, not vulnerability,” says series director Garrett Bradley.
Naomi played her last game in the fall of 2022 and soon announced her pregnancy. In January she gave birth to daughter Shai and she admitted in an interview with People that she had finally found her inner harmony. “I want my daughter to see my game and say, “Oh, that’s my mom!” – The tennis player said that she resumed training just a month after giving birth. She intends to return to the Australian Open and show the world the best version of herself: strong, self-sufficient and hungry for victory. And if something goes wrong, there is no doubt that Naomi, who reacts sharply to any kind of injustice, will be ready to defend not only herself, but also the other players. Her voice now sounds strong and proud.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS