The top spot in Naomi Osaka‘s life does not belong to her career as a professional tennis player.
The 28-year-old Japanese star shared her views on the sport that is intertwined with her life. Unlike most athletes who make their personal lives revolve around their career and games, she sees hers as secondary.
Naomi Osaka has her hands full with many endeavors beyond playing professional tennis and motherhood. She is a fashion designer, social activist, and entrepreneur.
Osaka sat down for a chat in the main interview room at the 2026 US Open, where she dropped a quite shocking detail. The conversation did not focus on the athlete’s achievements in her previous games, including making history as the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title in 2018.
Rather, much attention was placed on Osaka’s recent photo shoots, which displayed a combination of her love for fashion and tennis. The pro player noted that she has been “exploring places [she’s] never been before.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion then revealed her greater passion, which takes the top spot among all other ventures, including tennis. “I think people forget my main job is to be a mom. This [tennis] is kind of like my side hustle a little bit. I just happen to be really good at it,” Osaka said with a bright smile on her face.
According to the US Open, the mom of one revealed that her daughter has begun to develop an interest in the sport. “She loves swinging her little mini racquet around,” she said, adding that children can learn a lot of life lessons from tennis.
Osaka welcomed her now three-year-old daughter, Shai, with rapper Cordae in 2023. The duo split up recently after seven years of dating and continue to co-parent their daughter amicably.
The tennis champ previously disclosed that she has no plans to have a big family due to a “traumatic” experience with pregnancy and childbirth, including 12 hours of labor. She revealed that being pregnant with Shai was really “rough,” and it took her away from tennis for a while.
The Blast reported that two years ago, a fan speculated that Osaka was pregnant with her second baby and even celebrated the fake baby, wishing her many more. The athlete responded to the comment with a video clarifying that she was not pregnant, and that even if she was, she “wouldn’t want many more.”
Disclosing her reason, Osaka said, “Because giving birth was traumatic.” Fans applauded her for speaking openly about how physically draining childbirth can be, with some even sharing their personal experiences. “We don’t talk enough about how traumatic giving birth is! One and done here,” a user declared.
Naomi Osaka Is More Than A Mom And Sports Star
Osaka is reportedly also a philanthropist and serial entrepreneur. She builds companies, partners with major brands, and uses her voice to advocate for racial justice and athletes’ mental well-being.
The Grand Slam champ who once ranked as the No. 1 female tennis player in the world has also used her platform as a medium to bring attention to police brutality against people of color and racial inequality. She has written beautiful yet powerful pieces for top publications like The New York Times, Esquire, and TIME.
She is also the founder of KINLÓ, a skincare brand for melanated skin and underserved communities. In addition to these, she is the co-founder of the media company Hana Kuma and the sports representation company EVOLVE.
CFW notes that Osaka has also partnered with Modern Health as the chief community health advocate. The company is a mental health resource setup, and the tennis star has been open about her struggles with mental health issues in recent years.
The Mother-Of-One Stepped Away From Tennis For Mental Health Reasons
In 2021, Osaka, who was 23 at the time, was playing at the French Open when she made a move that sparked international discourse about athletes’ mental health. She stated via a tweet that she would not want to participate in the news conferences after the match to protect her mental health.
She cited that the press often raises questions that “bring doubt” into her mind as well as the minds of other athletes. “Here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious, so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences,” she wrote on social media.
As a result, the star athlete was fined $15,000 for not “fulfilling media obligations” and was threatened with expulsion from the tournament. Rather than facing expulsion, Osaka withdrew from the French Open a few days later for mental health reasons.
She later revealed that she had been battling waves of depression since the 2018 US Open. Being vocal about the struggle inspired other athletes to speak about their mental health battles often kept under wraps.
Inside Naomi Osaka’s Rise To Stardom
According to Women’s History, Osaka and her sister, Mari, bear their Japanese mother’s surname for practical purposes of living in Japan, where they were born. Both girls are professional tennis players born to a Japanese mom, Tamaki, and Haitian dad, Leonard Francois.
Their maternal grandfather was not accepting of his daughter’s biracial relationship, saying that she brought shame upon their heritage. While they were living in Osaka, Japan, Francois saw a TV broadcast of Serena and Venus Williams competing at the French Open, and that lit a fire in him.
He gave his all to make his daughters tennis stars just like the Williams girls he saw on television. The family of four moved to Long Island in 2000, where Mari and Osaka’s training began. They skipped the usual circuit of junior tournaments and competed against older players.
When Osaka became a professional tennis player, her father decided she would play for Japan and not the United States. She faced her goals head-on and won the Women’s Tennis Association Newcomer of the Year Award at 19. In 2018, Osaka beat her idol, Serena Williams at the US Open final and made history as the first Japanese Grand Slam winner.
Naomi Osaka surely has her priorities ironed out.
