Most tennis fans met the Haitian-American-Japanese player Naomi Osaka for the first time as they watched her win the 2018 US Open in a controversial match against Serena Williams. Since then, Osaka has galvanised the tennis world not only by winning three more grand slams—all tennis fans will remember Osaka winning the Australian Open twice—but also by being outspoken on matters of social justice and mental health. It is both her extraordinary talent and her candour that have propelled her to the top of her sport and onto the front page of newspapers and magazines worldwide, making her the highest-paid female athlete in the world since 2020.
But where did she come from and how did she get here? The story of Naomi Osaka and her family is unlike any other. Readers will be thrilled to read this book and learn more about tennis's most fascinating player.
Ben Rothenberg has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014. In this book, Ben will chart Naomi Osaka's incredible impact on tennis and on social justice in sports, predicting where she'll go next.
Ben Rothenberg is a sportswriter from Washington, D.C. He is extraordinarily well known in the Australian media, having appeared on Today, ABC News, Channel Nine and SEN among many others. His writing has also been published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Saturday Paper. He has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014, both in print for the New York Times and on his podcast, No Challenges Remaining. His work has focused on the intersections of social and cultural issues in tennis. A senior editor for Racquet magazine, Ben Rothenberg has appeared frequently as a tennis expert on international networks such as CNN and the BBC. With an eye for finding stories and dogged determination as a reporter, Rothenberg has become by many metrics the world's leading tennis journalist.
'Rothenberg provides exciting accounts of key matches and a sensitive treatment of Osaka's public battle with depression... Osaka's fans will lap this up.' Publishers Weekly
'A compelling, comprehensive biography of one of the most fascinating athletes of the past decade. Rothenberg provides essential context for both her on-court successes and off-court decisions. Even as someone who has covered Osaka's entire career, I learned a lot.' Tumaini Carayol, Guardian
