Osaka revels in Aussie spotlight, new projects

The crowd roared as Naomi Osaka put down one last ace to outlast Katie Boulter and reach the Gippsland Trophy quarterfinals.

It had become an unfamiliar sound to the former world No. 1, but one she was glad to hear after playing through months of silence.

“I feel really happy to be here and very happy to be able to interact with the crowd,” she said in her post-match press conference. “These are the moments I was wishing for when I was in quarantine, and even in New York, I really missed seeing people in the audience, so just having this moment is really nice.”

The health protocols at the US Open precluded mass gatherings, and thus the nearly-24,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium was rendered empty for the fortnight during which the Japanese star captured her third major title.

Echoes aside, Osaka admitted the conditions came with their own advantages.

“In New York, I did miss the crowd but I was actually able to focus solely on tennis,” she said. “In a way, it was kind of good for me because sometimes when I play in front of a crowd, I want to impress them, so I tend to do things that may not be the greatest in a given situation. But the crowd definitely gives me a lot of energy. It’s nice to have people watch what you love to do.”

Osaka’s fanbase has only grown in the aftermath of her summer surge, signing on to a slew of endorsement deals and fun projects that give the 23-year-old renewed perspective.

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“I feel like when I was little, I based my entire existence around being a tennis player, and doing various things outside of tennis gives me a balance,” she says. “It gives me something to think about outside of tennis, to where, if I were to lose a match, I have so many more things to do. I would say that there’s a lot of things I’m thinking about, currently, and I’m looking forward to doing more.”

One project in particular sees the Gippsland Trophy’s No. 2 seed turned into a manga character for a series titled “Unrivaled-Naomi Tenkaichi.” It’s a logical pivot for Osaka, who grew up consuming anime and manga with her family.

“One of my most favorite anime and manga is called 'Demon Slayer.' I was really hooked on it and I even made my mom start watching it,” she says. “She really liked it too. It’s a very interesting anime to watch, and I ended up reading the manga when I ran out of episodes!”

With the "Demon Slayer" binge on pause, Osaka plans to make the most of the many matches taking place in Melbourne Park this week by watching a few in person.

“I just like watching matches in person because I feel like you can gauge the speed of the ball, feel the atmosphere and the conditions. It’s just much more engaging than watching on TV.”

Those on the ground have clearly been engaged by her first two matches, and may yet have more to cheer for in the coming fortnight as Osaka approaches 2021 untethered by the pressure to model her life after anyone who came before her.

“My biggest priority outside of the tennis court is just to do cool stuff, to do stuff that no one’s ever done.”