By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Naomi Osaka grew up playing her sister on a public park court next to a Florida airport and is flying high with major aspirations in her Miami return.
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook
Navigating tennis turbulence is nothing new to Naomi Osaka.
The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion spent her younger years living on Long Island before moving to south Florida.
More: Halep Aims for Majors and Medal
The Florida public hard court Osaka and older sister Mari Osaka waged daily battles on was a runway to her tennis dreams—and sometimes sounded like a landing strip for a nearby airport.
Returning to the Sunshine State for this week's Miami Open, Osaka reflected on how Florida air traffic shaped her self control.
"Of course, I have really fond memories whenever I come back to Florida and play this tournament," Osaka said. "For me playing on those public courts with my sister, it shaped me in the way that I was very tolerant just because we would play for hours on end.
"I played on these courts right next to an airport. So I guess I got used to loud noise too as welll. It was really fun times and I always have a lot of good memories whenever I come back here."
The world No. 2 is flying high in her return.
The second-seeded Osaka will face the winner of Ajla Tomljanovic and Anastasia Potapova in her Miami Open opener as she aims to sustain her career-best winning streak.
Last month, a dynamic Osaka overwhelmed first-time finalist Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 to capture her second Australian Open championship in the last three years. Osaka scored her 21st consecutive victory—she hasn't lost a match in more than a year—as the queen of clutch now holds two of the four Grand Slam crowns after completing the US Open-Australian Open championship double for the second time.
The 23-year-old Osaka is the first woman since Hall of Famer Monica Seles in the 1990s to win her first four Grand Slam finals and she's surpassed her tennis idol, Serena Wiliams whom she defeated in Melbourne, as the world's highest-paid female athlete.
Osaka's maturation on and off court is clear, her shot selection much sharper and, working with coach Wim Fissette, she's playing points with a purpose.
Former world No. 1 Simona Halep says Osaka is serving bigger and playing with more consistency and clarity.
"I see like she improved inthat direction a lot. She's hitting a little bit stronger also the serve," Halep said of Osaka. "I always believed that she's a great player. I'm sure that she's going to win more Grand Slams.
"Yeah, I can say that always when I played against her, it was not easy. Even if I won few matches that we played, she's a very tough opponent."
The 23-year-old Osaka, who moved from Florida California, points to communication, stress management and a commitment to focusing on effort rather than results are among the areas she's improved.
"I changed my approach in just talking to my team more," Osaka said. "For me, I would say the biggest stress is just me thinking aboutdisappointing my team with my result.
"Like, if I happen to lose, I wouldn't feel sad for myself, I would feel sad for the people that travel with me, that go with me througheverything, through practices and stuff like that. Justreflecting on that, understanding that I'm not perfect, I'mnot going to win every match, but it's my effort level thatmatters.Tennis-wise, that's what I learned."
Family remains a vital force in Osaka's life. Older sister Mari Osaka retired from the pro circuit earlier this year.
"For me, my sister, she's the reason why I started playing tennis," Osaka said. "Of course, it was a sad moment forour entire family. But it's something that you could kind offeel coming. She's just so good at so many differentthings. For me, I feel like anything that makes her happybasically."
Seeing her sister exit the sport prompted Naomi to reflect on her own approach to the game.
"I've always felt like it's a bit weird, but I'm only good at one thing, and that's tennis. I sort of chased this relentlessly," Naomi Osaka said. "For [Mari], I felt like she was always a bit too nice. Like I'm the mean sister, she's the nice sister. There were always situations where I thought she was really nice.
"There are things she's done that I thought to myself, if an opponent cheats, she wouldn't cheat back, that sort of thing.But I feel like she's really happy where she is right now. That's my biggest thing, just for my family to be happy, for me to be able to be in the position to help her maybe move towards another dream that she has, so yeah."
Osaka knows all about major ascension.
Osaka out-dueled Petra Kvitova, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4, in the 2019 Australian Open final to claim her second straight Grand Slam title and become the first Asian singles player—male or female—to rise to the world No. 1 ranking.
Hall of Famer and Tennis Channel analyst Lindsay Davenport asserts we are entering the age of Osaka and envisions the world No. 2 dominating women's tennis for the next five to seven years.
"I think Osaka is going to be kind of the dominant force in women's tennis in the next five to seven years if she continues to play that long," Davenport told Tennis Now during a Tennis Channel conference call with the media to prior to the Australian Open. "I assume she will. I think her team, everybody around her, has a pretty good handle on what is the amount she needs to play.
"We only want her to play if she is ready to go and she's happy. I think that they have done a very good job of letting her blossom as a young, one of the most famous now females in the world."
A surging Osaka has a couple of more immediate goals: enjoying her time in Miami and some family time.
"I actually don't feel any pressure. It's not like I'm defending here," Osaka said. "I've never even made second week here before. I feel more fun, like excitement. I want to see how well I can do. I have so many really good memories here as a kid, not particularly this location. When I was a kid, I went to Key Biscayne.
Yeah, for me, it's just more exciting. I'll get to see my mom and dad, so there's that."