HITTING DIFFERENT

NAOMI OSAKA’S ability to grow and evolve may be her defining trait , and a key to her popularity with a new generation of fans. Can she use it to make herself a contender at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, too?

- STEPHEN TIGNOR

I THINK A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE CAN SEE THEMSELVES IN HER, HOW PRESENT SHE HAS BEEN IN SPEAKING OUT, IN FIGURING OUT WHAT SHE WANTS TO STAND FOR, AND STEPPING INTO NEW ROLES

“I feel like I’m living in a what-if right now,” Naomi Osaka said after she won her fourth Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open. “It’s really weird when you get to that final point, you start trembling because you can think of the ‘what-ifs.’”

Just about everyone who has ever played tennis knows what it’s like to tremble as the finish line approaches and victory is in sight. Few of us, though, have ever experienced what-ifs as monumental as Osaka’s. Even fewer have turned them into reality with the cool efficiency that she has.

What if, Osaka may have wondered when she was younger, I win major titles? What if I become No. 1? What if I beat my idol, Serena Williams, in Arthur Ashe Stadium? By the time she was 21, Osaka had made those dreams come true. But it turns out she was only getting started. In the two seasons since, the Japanese native and Beverly Hills resident has gone beyond what-if, into realms of success she likely never imagined entering.

In 2019, Osaka earned $37.4 million, the most ever for a female athlete in a year. In 2020, she used her status to draw attention to pressing social issues in the United States, and was named one of Sports Illustrated’s Sportspeople of the Year. In 2021, Osaka has picked up right where she left off. At the Australian Open, she saved two match points against Garbine Muguruza, faced down Williams again in the semifinals, and extended her record in the final three rounds at majors to 12–0.