Naomi Osaka Calls Beyoncé and Rihanna ‘Trailblazers’

World Number one, Naomi Osaka will be playing a Grand Slam tournament for the first time as a defending champion. She’s the top seed at US Open 2019. Around this time, last year Osaka was inked 19th in the world and had won the title in Indian Wells. This year, she stepped at Flushing Meadows, New York as a two-time major champion and as the World Number one tennis player.

The Japanese-Haitian tennis professional, Naomi Osaka was in conversation with Vogue and she talked about her inspirations in life. She called Beyoncé and Rihanna as ‘trailblazers’. “In life, I look up to my family—sister, mum and dad; and some other trailblazers like Beyoncé and Rihanna. I went to her Fenty pop-up store in Paris and may have splurged—oops!” she said.

“In sport, I have tremendous respect for those athletes that have managed not just to reach the top, but stay there for a long time… Serena (Williams), Kobe (Bryant), LeBron (James), come to mind,” Naomi Osaka added.

The 21-year-old aims to ameliorate the tennis culture in Japan and Haiti and hopes to be instrumental in producing the upcoming tennis players.“But being a role model is something that I take very seriously. I hope to inspire young athletes everywhere, but especially young girls from Japan and Haiti. Follow your dreams and anything is possible,” Osaka continued.

Recently, Naomi Osaka was named as the world’s most marketable athlete for 2019 by SportsPro. She endorses Mastercard, Shiseido, and Nissan. She began her endorsement with the giant American sports brand, Nike this year in April and before that, Osaka was in affiliation with Adidas.

On the court, Osaka retired from her quarterfinal match against Sofia Kenin in Cincinnati due to a knee injury, and despite her injury jeopardy, the World Number one is determined to do well at the US Open 2019.