It's a season of decisions, decisions for Naomi Osaka.

Fresh off her choice to sign with Nike rather than re-up with Adidas, even negotiating to be able to show other sponsors' badges on her swoosh-tastic kits, the holder of the two most recent major singles titles vied for has a matter of nationality to attend to, per the New York Times.

As of age 22, which Osaka will turn on October 16 this year, she will need to make a choice as to whether she will represent Japan or the United States, as she holds dual citizenship with the countries at present. Osaka has played under the Japanese flag to date, in the 2016 Olympics and in major and WTA-level events alike. Certainly she awaits with bated breath the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, as does her nation's people.

Advertising

All the chatter about Osaka's impending choice has arrived largely sans fanfare or speculation. A conundrum has hardly befallen the WTA's No. 1 star, who rocketed to international acclaim in topping Serena Williams for the 2018 US Open title and then backed it up by taking down Petra Kvitova in 2019's Australian Open.

As the Times reports, Osaka said in October, “I’m pretty sure it’s obvious. I’m playing for Japan. Not to be disrespectful or anything, but I don’t really get where the conclusion that it’s a hard choice for me or anything comes from."

Advertising

Still, the laws involved, and the high-profile exception that Osaka might receive to retain dual citizenship, make for a remarkably public interface for the government of Japan. Osaka herself continues to break down barriers and catalyze conversation in the country she represents, as a woman of mixed race. Whose parents are Haitian and Japanese. Who just plainly does not stop winning.

So while Osaka's decision remains her own, and personal—and eventful and forthcoming—it also feels a foregone conclusion. See you in Tokyo next year. And before that, everywhere else.

Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonscott9.