Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has picked her person to start the conversation about a crucial problem in Saudi Arabia. Recently, famous F1 driver Lewis Hamilton refused to participate in any racing event in Saudi Arabia. This country is reportedly hosting its debut race on a new street track in Jeddah. As Osaka was asked to drop her bits about the matter, instead of putting herself forward, Osaka picked Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic.

Why was Naomi Osaka asked about a decision taken by Hamilton? Do they have some prior connection? As it turns out, they do have a small history where Hamilton backed Osaka after she was fined for not appearing in a press conference.

Naomi Osaka chooses Novak Djokovic and wishes him to ‘open the door first’

Recently, a reliable tennis source shared a clip on their X (formerly Twitter) where Naomi Osaka expressed her views at a press conference of the BNP Paribas Open tournament 2024. This source shared the context of the conversation: “Naomi Osaka on whether she will chat to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton who has expressed strong views on staging events in Saudi Arabia.” In this clip, fans spotted Osaka speaking about Novak Djokovic.

Osaka said, “I mean I guess I will DM him or something, it’s for his advice but I feel like if there was dialogue between sports, honestly, it would probably be someone like Novak that would open the door first. I don’t know why but I picked him like starting the conversation like.”

However, Osaka seemed a bit conscious about her comments. She further said, “It’s gonna sound bad, I don’t really read the news too much so I am very ruled out and usually that gets me in trouble because when I talk sometimes I don’t really have the recent information but it’s good to know you think I am friends with Lewis Hamilton.”

Read more: Naomi Osaka’s Inner Fangirl for Lewis Hamilton Unveiled as She Discloses Her Sole Purpose of Watching ‘Drive to Survive’

Osaka’s fight for prioritizing mental health received Lewis Hamilton’s support

During the 2021 French Open, the tournament’s organizers fined Naomi Osaka over her absence from the press conference. Osaka chose to not attend the event due to her mental health issues. After the Japanese tennis star was fined $15,000, Lewis Hamilton came forward in her support.

Sharing Osaka’s statement, Hamilton tweeted- “Mental health is not a joke, this is real and serious. This takes a lot of courage to do. Let’s all make sure Naomi knows she’s not alone. Today is a good day to check and ask your friends and loved ones how they are doing and let them know they are not alone.”

Naomi Osaka’s choice to start the conversation between sports expresses her admiration for Novak Djokovic. It also represented her friendship with Lewi Hamilton and their fight to protect the mental health rights of the athletes.