With the Tokyo Olympics three months away, World No.2 and 4-time Grand Slam Champion Naomi Osaka reveals her favourite athlete.
Osaka will be determined to strike gold at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, as she will be representing her home country, Japan.
Having missed out on qualifying for the Rio Olympics in 2016 narrowly, the then 18-year old Osaka saw a meteoric rise in her professional tennis career. Since then, she has won both the US Open and the Australian Open twice.
And now, she is looking forward to leaving her trails in the Olympics as well.
Speaking in an interview with ITF Tennis, Osaka revealed that she always tends to put her goals realistically, before adding that she will be relaxing for a while, as there are more than three months left for Tokyo.
Osaka said:
“I have allowed myself to dream that dream of winning the gold medal. But it won’t be easy. And I tend to put my goals realistically and also short-term, and it’s not even July yet! So, I’m going to chill.” [via ITFTennis.com]
Osaka picked Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt as her favourite athlete of all time, going on to say that she and her entire family loved watching Lightning Bolt run.
Osaka had the following to say about Bolt:
“For me, it’s always been a dream of mine. As a kid you wake up and watch your favourite athletes play. My most outstanding Olympic memory is just watching [Usain] Bolt run. He’s my favourite athlete, me and my whole family – my dad loves his running, so we would just, like, watch him.” [via ITFTennis.com]
The Brand ‘Naomi Osaka’ is soaring off-court
Besides her on-court success, Osaka has been killing it off the court as well.
One of the biggest Nike athletes in the business with a flabbergasting deal of 8.5 million USD, she recently was featured as the brand ambassador for Nissan Arriya ad campaign.
And more recently, yesterday the 23-year old Japanese posted a Louis Vuitton photo ad on Instagram.
She was also the highest-paid female athlete in the year 2020, according to Forbes , with a ton of sponsorship partners notably Tag Heuer, Beats, Mastercard.
More Tennis news
- “Bold and quiet. Powerful and calm” – Naomi Osaka stuns in the perfect commercial for Nissan
- Novak Djokovic’s brother makes Roger Federer promise ahead of Serbian Open
- Naomi Osaka responds to botching Jennifer Brady’s name after AO Open final win
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates
