Tag: Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka just announced she’s expecting her first child and everyone was so thrilled

Congratulations to Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka has been through so much over the last few years. She’s seen very high highs like when she lit the torch at the Tokyo Olympics. We’ve also seen her hit lows that have been so hard that she needed to step away from tennis.

She’s just been searching for her happiness and it’s hard not to root her on throughout her journey.

On Wednesday, though, she gave everyone something new to cheer for. Osaka took to Twitter to officially announce that she’ll be on a hiatus from tennis once again.

The reason why is awesome, though. It’s because she’s pregnant with her first child.

“These few months away from the sport has really given me a new love and appreciation for the game I’ve dedicated my life to. I realize that life is so short and I don’t take any moments for granted, everyday is a new blessing and adventure. I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, the one thing I’m looking forward to is my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, “that’s my mom,” haha.”

What an incredible way to announce such incredible news. Good for Naomi, man. She continued to say she’ll be out of tennis for the next year and will return for the Australian Open in 2024.

Everyone skipped past that part, though. Mostly because the entire internet was so thrilled for her.

We’ll miss Naomi Osaka as she steps away from tennis again, but it’s totally for the best

Hopefully, she finds peace while she’s away.

It’s been relieving to see Naomi Osaka back on the tennis court after her brief hiatus.

Her return to the U.S. Open this week marked her first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open earlier this year. She withdrew from the French Open to take a mental health break and also skipped Wimbledon after that.

The four-time Grand Slam champion played in the Tokyo Olympics for her home country of Japan in between that time, but it still wasn’t clear when she’d return to WTA play.

Seeing her back was great, not only because the game is better with her in it, but also because it seemed that maybe she’d finally gotten over the hump to rediscover her happiness in the sport again.

Now, after she spoke to the media following her loss in the third round of the U.S. Open to Leylah Fernandez on Friday, it’s clear that that isn’t the case.

Osaka got extremely emotional after the loss. But it wasn’t because of the loss, though — it was because she doesn’t know when she’ll be ready to come back.

Tennis just doesn’t seem to be bringing her joy anymore.

She tried to explain her feelings to us in her post-match media availability. And it was extremely hard to hear.

“When I win, I don’t feel happy. I feel more…relief. And when I lose, I feel very sad. And I don’t think that’s normal…I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match. Sorry.” 

That’s the gut-punch right there. And it’s not because we’ll miss Osaka playing tennis. Sure, that’s part of it. As one of the best players in the world, the sport is always going to be better when she plays.

However, tennis is just a sport. It’s fun to watch, sure. But there are far more important things in life than tennis. This is one of them. She needs to be 100 percent healthy — both mentally and physically — and clearly, she’s not right now.

The scary part of it all is the physical part of it is the easier one. You know when an injury is healed. You can tangibly see it — you know when it’s performing better and when you’re ready to return.

But a mental setback? That’s not something you can measure. It’s not something you can see. It’s something that you always carry with you, and it can be extremely heavy.

So, look. We have no idea when Naomi Osaka is playing tennis again. There might be a greater than zero chance that she actually never plays tennis again. Who knows? She probably couldn’t even tell us that right now.

But if never playing again means she’s OK and that she’s found peace one way or another, then so be it. That’s truly the only thing that matters.

LOOK: Naomi Osaka wears a Sabrina Ionescu Liberty jersey in US Open practice

Just a couple of GOATS in the same airspace. Naomi Osaka wore a Sabrina Ionescu New York Liberty jersey prior to her US Open first-round match.

Sabrina Ionescu has become an icon in the world of women’s basketball. But her status is going worldwide thanks to her Nike affiliation and athletes in other sports recognize Sabrina’s superstar status.

Practicing for her first-round match in the US Open, No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka was wearing Sabrina’s New York Liberty home jersey. If the result of her match was any indication, Osaka might wear that light blue jersey before every match. Playing Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, the Japanese tennis star defeated her opponent 6-4, 6-1.

Osaka has been ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She is a four-time grand slam singles champion and is the reigning champion at the US Open and the Australian Open.

She has made news off the court, however, with her refusal to talk to the media after matches citing mental health reasons and she was forced to withdraw from the Olympics because of injury.

The US Open is in New York, so repping a Sabrina jersey in the Big Apple makes all the sense in the world.

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Naomi Osaka prometió donar ganancias del torneo de Cincinnati a Haití y en redes ya pelean por ello

El domingo, a través de Twitter, Osaka dio a conocer que donaría sus ganancias del toreno para la recuperación de Haití tras el terremoto.

Naomi Osaka está de regreso, después de que se retirara del Abierto de Tenis de Francia debido a problemas de salud mental y de que cancelara su participación en otros torneos de tenis desde entonces como Wimbledon. La volvimos a ver en las Olimpiadas de Tokio donde quedó eliminada en la tercera ronda.

Ahora, la tenista estadounidense está de regreso para participar en el torneo de Cincinnati y ha anunciado que donará las ganancias que reciba en dicho torneo para ayudar a los damnificados en Haití después de que la isla sufriera un devastador sismo de 7.2 grados. Hasta ahora, las autoridades haitianas reportan más de 1200 fallecidos, además de cientos de desaparecidos y miles de heridos que rebosan los hospitales.

Por si fuera poco, al país llegó también la tormenta tropical Grace que solo hará más difícil el trabajo de los rescatistas.

Además de la devastadora situación que viven en este momento los haitianos, Osaka tiene una razón muy personal para querer ayudar a esta nación caribeña. Leonard Francois, padre de Osaka, proviene de la ciudad portuaria de Jacmel, al sur de Haití.

El domingo, a través de Twitter, Osaka dio a conocer que donaría sus ganancias del toreno para la recuperación de Haití:

“Realmente duele ver toda la devastación que está sucediendo en Haití, y siento que realmente no podemos tomar un descanso. Estoy a punto de jugar un torneo esta semana y daré todo el dinero del premio a los esfuerzos de ayuda para Haití. Sé que la sangre de nuestros antepasados es fuerte, seguiremos aumentand”, publicó la tenista.

Twitter reacciona

Sin duda la causa de Osaka es noble. Sin embargo, y como suele suceder en redes sociales, las reacciones ante su anuncio han sido encontradas. Por un lado, algunos usuarios han salido a criticar que no done dinero de inmediato y que su apoyo dependa de cómo le vaya en el torneo. Algunos incluso cuestionaron qué sucedería si sale en la primera ronda.

Estos fueron los más críticos. La mayoría de los mensajes fueron más de agradecimiento, sin embargo también esos incluyen una preocupación: ¿cómo se asegurará Osaka de que su donación llegue realmente a la población?

Los tuiteros pidieron a la tenista que tenga mucho cuidado al momento de elegir cómo y a quién donará el dinero prometido. El principal temor es que la donación quede atrapada en corruptas manos políticas y jamás llegue a quienes lo necesitan.

Los usuarios tienen un punto ahí. El escenario que proponen no es sería nada nuevo, especialmente en un país en vías de desarrollo.

Sin duda quedan preguntas alrededor del gesto de Osaka. Pero lo que no podemos negar es que la intención es noble y que la tenista sin duda busca dar de su parte desde donde considera que puede ayudar mejor.

Portada: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

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Raiders DT Solomon Thomas offers words of support for Simone Biles ‘definition of strength’

Raiders DT Solomon Thomas offers words of support for Simone Biles

Every so often there are incidents in sports that transcend sports. Things that invoke a strong response from even those who may not even follow sports. And, unfortunately, especially in today’s political climate, those things can often be polarizing. Everyone seems to need to weigh in with some strong opinion one way or the other.

Recently, two professional athletes saw their choices to step away from competition for mental health reasons met such strong reactions which included considerable scrutiny.

First, was professional tennis player Naomi Osaka, who pulled out of a tournament, citing mental health issues. And most recently it was 19-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles who pulled out of team competition at the Olympics.

Biles’s decision drew even harsher scrutiny than Osaka, primarily because the talking heads felt righteous indignation due to Biles representing the US in the Olympics.

Raiders defensive tackle Solomon Thomas has been an outspoken advocate for removing the stigma placed on mental health. For him, what Osaka and Biles did was vitally important not just for them, but for others who may struggle with mental health and speaking out about it. He had some powerful words of support for the two athletes.

“I paid a lot of attention to that with Naomi Osaka speaking out,” Thomas said Friday… “And Simone Biles, obviously. They are at the top of all athletes. And for them to be able to have that strength and vulnerability to say that ‘hey, I’m going to take care of myself, that is unbelievable strength and just unbelievable in general.

“People understand the pressure that’s on those athletes. They legit have the weight of the world on their shoulders, especially within their individual sport. I feel like it’s extremely important for them to be talking about it on the stage that they’re on and I think it’s huge that they’re doing that. I’m just very happy about that. Happy to see the positive responses from people, from people supporting them.

“All the negative critics and everything that you hear, that’s the stigma that we’re fighting. That’s what we’re fighting every day. That’s why we’re talking this way — athletes are talking, people are talking, psychologists and therapists are all talking. because that stigma that we’re fighting. If it was an ankle injury, we wouldn’t be talking about it. But because it’s a mental health issue we’re talking about it because people don’t understand how serious that can affect an athlete, how serious that can affect a person.

“For them to talk about it on the highest stage of the world is so huge and I’m just very thankful for them talking out and I stand with them in every way. And I’m very appreciative of their strength and vulnerability. That’s the definition of strength if you ask me.”

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Naomi Osaka says lighting Olympic cauldron was her ‘greatest athletic achievement and honor’

Naomi Osaka was the final torchbearer at the Tokyo Olympics.

As the Opening Ceremony at the Summer Olympics was coming to a close Friday night in Tokyo, Japanese tennis superstar Naomi Osaka lit the iconic Olympic cauldron.

Osaka — the No. 2 tennis player in the world and four-time Grand Slam champ who will compete for the host country at the Games — was the final Olympic torchbearer in what’s usually a long and celebrated relay in the months leading up to the Olympics.

As NBC Sports noted, the relay began in March in Fukushima before traveling across Japan for 121 days and reaching Tokyo on July 9. However, this year because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the public portion of the torch relay was canceled, so torchbearers did not run through the streets surrounded by fans as originally planned.

But the tradition of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony continued, and Osaka described it as “the greatest athletic achievement and honor” of her life.

Tennis at the Tokyo Games begins Saturday, July 24.

Here’s a closer look at Osaka lighting the cauldron at Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

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5 things we know about Naomi Osaka’s new Netflix docuseries

This looks like a must-watch documentary series.

Naomi Osaka is opening up to the world in a new and different way, telling her story in her own words in Netflix’s upcoming eponymous multi-part documentary series.

The streaming service released the trailer for the show on Tuesday, and it looks like it’s a must-watch for tennis fans and general sports fans alike. But it’s not solely about tennis or Osaka’s dominance on the court.

Naomi Osaka takes a deeper and more detailed look at the tennis star’s professional and personal challenges as she works to remain on top of the tennis world while using her platform to push for social justice and condemn racism and police brutality. The series details her life, family and experiences behind the scenes.

“The series is about Naomi’s journey, within a snapshot of her life, but it’s also about life’s purpose, about personal worth, about the courage that it takes to allow one’s personal values to inform their work and vice versa,” Academy-Award nominated director Garrett Bradley said in a Netflix release.

“More than anything, I’d hope people can feel the power of empathy and to feel encouraged to take chances in life, perhaps especially in moments where the stakes can feel impossibly high.”

Here are five things we know about Osaka’s upcoming docuseries.

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LeBron James executive produced new Netflix documentary about Naomi Osaka

LeBron James helped Naomi Osaka’s new Netflix documentary come to life.

LeBron James leads a prominent life on the basketball court for the Los Angeles Lakers as one of the best players in the league, but his work goes beyond the NBA.

James also has a busy life off the court, underscored by the work he’s done to bring “Space Jam: A New Legacy” to fruition.

Along with Space Jam and shows James does frequently, such as “The Shop: Uninterrupted” on HBO, James has helped influential athletes playing different sports tell their stories.

Netflix, the streaming giant, is preparing to release a three-part documentary series detailing the life of tennis star Naomi Osaka. The documentary will dive into Osaka’s life off the tennis court and into what her life is like that many don’t realize.

James shared the trailer for the documentary on his Twitter:

The documentary will be live on July 16 — coincidentally the same day as “Space Jam: A New Legacy” — and James, along with his long-time business partner and friend, Maverick Carter, assisted the show’s production as executive producers.

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