In tennis, it is rare to see an athlete truly grow up. This ‘growing up’ is not what it often means in sport: usually, the ability of a player to be disciplined, or not throw a tantrum when things don’t go right. This is more about finding their own self, a distinct voice; navigating a relentlessly demanding sport they have been trying to perfect since childhood. It may be easy if you are a veteran: all those years of weathering the endless rigmarole of touring, raking up ranking points and navigating sponsors comes with its own lessons. But how does someone young and introverted — almost to the point of being melancholic — like Naomi Osaka manage to find herself standing, barely three years after bursting onto the scene?
Osaka, 22, has often been described as ‘shy’, ‘innocent’ or ‘awkward’. Two years ago, she would tip-toe into press conferences and counter tough questions with self-deprecating humour. But when summer arrived this year, one saw in a world plagued by despair, a girl of promise become an icon of hope.
Amplifying voices
Osaka, who is the highest paid female athlete according to Forbes , was among the first to register her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. She flew to Minneapolis and attended protests surrounding the death of George Floyd. This was a transformed Osaka, someone whose life pivoted around the practice court. Floyd’s death at the hands of a white policeman had outraged much of the U.S., and when Osaka chose to stand among those who felt anguished, she was making a clear statement.
On social media, she amplified messages about organisations working for the Black Lives Matter movement and urged her fans to understand what it means to be a person of colour in America. She was, of course, met with the usual lamentations: why was an athlete commenting on issues that do not concern her sport? But Osaka remained unfazed. She became accutely aware of her reach and used the platform to facilitate change. In doing so, she made the sport relevant to issues plaguing the world today.
In what was perhaps the most defining moment in her role as a leader for social advocacy, Osaka announced that she would not be playing her semi-final match at the Western & Southern Open to protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a young Black man, in Wisconsin. It was discernible then that playing good tennis was only going to be a subset of what Osaka stood for. As a result of her decision, the tournament itself paused play for one day.
In 2020, Osaka has redefined what it means to be a tennis player. It is not just about enthralling fans with deft shotmaking, filling up stadium seats and raking up TV views. It is also about making the sport a sanctuary where an athlete can achieve everlasting change.
Masks and the message
She brought seven masks into the U.S. Open with her, each emblazoned with the name of a Black person who was a victim of racially charged, law-enforcement confrontations. But wearing seven masks required playing seven matches, from the opening round to the final. Osaka did just that and more. Standing inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after a Black player who spent much of his life fighting prejudice, she won her third Grand Slam title, showing those who doubted her that it was possible to be a champion on and off court.
At the trophy ceremony, she was asked again about what message she wanted to send. The new Osaka, now brave and assertive, responded without missing a beat: “Well, what was the message you got, is more the question.”
A few hours and several thousand miles away, a Japanese TV show introduced the story behind each person on her masks. Osaka’s message had gone global.
preethi.r@thehindu.co.in
