The 2019 season didn't end how Naomi Osaka wanted. The two-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the WTA Finals with a shoulder injury, ending a season that saw her win three titles on a slightly sour note.
But that let her enjoy a longer off-season than usual, which may have been almost as memorable as anything that happened to her on the court.
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quarter- pic.twitter.com/9goaOhbHAh — NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) November 23, 2019
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Osaka took her first real vacation as a professional tennis player, heading to Turks and Caicos with her sister Mari and boyfriend YBN Cordae.
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☀️day pic.twitter.com/L7NhBapXEW — NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) November 24, 2019
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Yet her trip quickly turned hazardouse as she recounted nearly dying after getting taken by the current while paddle boarding with Mari.
"So we went paddle boarding next to the house...and suddenly we hit a current and I'm freaking out a little bit, because the house is getting further...and then I fall in the water, so now I'm like thinking about all the sharks in the Caribbean..." Osaka told WTA Insider. "So now I'm like screaming and crying, and I was fine, though, because I'm here."
Thankfully, her off-season had some highs, like meeting Beyoncé and Jay-Z who, as Osaka puts it, are very angelic.
"I met Beyonce and Jay Z during the off-season. She just smelled expensive and beautiful and she was soft and she hugged me," Osaka said. "I was like, this is what heaven is."