Osaka won her first two major championships at the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, which were held back-to-back.
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Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player who was born on October 16, 1997. She is the first Asian player to achieve the No. 1 singles ranking in the world, according to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Osaka has won two Australian Open championships and two US Open crowns, making her a four-time Grand Slam singles champion. Two of her seven WTA Tour victories were at the Premier Mandatory level. Osaka won her first two major championships at the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, which were held back-to-back. Since Serena Williams in 2015, she was the first woman to win consecutive major singles championships, and Jennifer Capriati in 2001 was the last. Osaka is one of the most marketable athletes in the world; in terms of endorsement money, she was placed seventh among all athletes in 2020.
In terms of yearly earnings, she was also the highest-paid female athlete in history at the time. Osaka has become well-known for her activism after publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement throughout her matches. For her advocacy, which was substantially a part of her quest for the US Open championship, she was named one of the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportspersons of the Year. She was also listed on Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most important people in the world for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Osaka is a base player that plays aggressively. Her serve and forehand, in particular, have excellent raw power. At the age of sixteen, Naomi Osaka could strike forehands travelling at speeds of up to 160 kph (100 mph), and her serve has reached 200 kph (124 mph), placing her among the top ten fastest servers in WTA history. Osaka’s ability to win lengthy rallies is crucial to her success even though she can use her power to strike a lot of winners.
Osaka reaching her first WTA final of her career at the 2016 Pan Pacific Open was one of the first significant instances where that tactic was successful. Osaka attributed her breakout season in 2018 to enhancing her mental game and reducing unforced errors. At the Wuhan Open at the year’s end, she observed “My mental state has probably improved the most. My game is more reliable; there are less unintentional mistakes. I don’t know how many I hit today, but last year I did hit a lot of times!” She credited her coach Sascha Bajin for some of these developments, saying, “I tend to be a little pessimistic, but after working with [Bajin], I feel like I’ve gained a little bit of optimism. He has served as something of a mediator because I argue a lot with myself.” Bajin concurred with Osaka regarding the importance of adopting a patient, upbeat attitude throughout each game.
Wim Fissette is a tennis coach and former professional player from Belgium. He has collaborated with former WTA world number ones Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Naomi Osaka. Fissette became Kim Clijsters’ coach after the Belgian returned to the WTA Tour in 2009, having previously served as her hitting partner before her first retirement in 2007. Clijsters won the US Open as a wildcard entry that year, and she successfully defended her title twelve months later. She also won the WTA Tour Championships in 2010, and the Australian Open early the following year. She also held the world number one position for a single week.
Fissette became Sabine Lisicki’s coach shortly before the 2013 French Open after splitting from Clijsters. Although she did not win any titles under Fissette’s tutelage, Lisicki did reach the Wimbledon final, losing to Marion Bartoli in straight sets after ending Serena Williams’ 34-match winning streak and preventing her from matching her elder sister Venus’ 35-match winning streak set in 2000. Fissette took over as Simona Halep’s coach in 2014. Halep’s results improved as a result of their collaboration, as she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, the French Open final, and the Wimbledon semi-finals that year. In August of that year, she also achieved a career high ranking of world number two.
