Naomi Osaka

She became the first Japanese player to win the US Open, lit the Olympic torch, had a baby, and built a company. All before turning 28.

Naomi Osaka was born in Japan to a Haitian-American father and Japanese mother.

She moved to the U.S. at 3.

Her father had never played tennis, but after watching Venus and Serena dominate the 1999 French Open, he pulled a Richard Williams.

He coached Naomi and her sister Mari himself.

At 16, Naomi Osaka made her WTA debut by beating a former US Open champ.

At 21, she beat Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final.

And in 2019, she won the Australian Open and became the first Asian player in history to be ranked world No. 1 in singles.

That same year, she left her coach after winning a Grand Slam title.

Why?

She struggled with injuries.

She struggled with pressure.

In 2021, she pulled out of the French Open to protect her mental health.

Then skipped Wimbledon.

She told the world she had been battling depression since 2018.

But she didn’t disappear.

She built.

In 2021, Naomi Osaka launched KINLÒ, a skincare brand for melanated skin.

She had grown up on sun-drenched courts assuming, like many, that dark skin didn’t need SPF.

Wrong.

Skin cancer often gets diagnosed later in Black and Brown communities, leading to higher mortality rates.

So she partnered with dermatologists.

The products were affordable, functional, reef-safe, and designed for deep tones.

In 2023, KINLÒ expanded to 2,500 Walmart stores across the U.S.

Then she built a media company: Hana Kuma, backed by LeBron James and Maverick Carter.

The mission? Spotlight underrepresented voices and multicultural stories.

The first short film, Footsteps, told the story of Haiti’s first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup team.

Hana Kuma raised $5M and started producing shows that Osaka herself wished had existed when she was growing up.

Meanwhile, she was rewriting the rules in sports business too.

In 2022, she launched Evolve, the first female-led sports agency, with her longtime agent Stuart Duguid.

Their first client? Nick Kyrgios.

Osaka and Duguid both own equity in the agency.

But Naomi also:
- Partnered with Modern Health to create mental health meditations for kids
- Dropped a collection with Levi’s
- Joined Play Academy with Nike to fund girls’ sports
- Was named a 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year
- And made the Time 100 list three years in a row

While pregnant in 2023, Osaka kept working on Hana Kuma, KINLÒ, and Evolve.

She gave birth to her daughter in July.

Then came back to tennis in 2024.

The comeback was slow. And brutal.

But in 2025, she started winning again.

She reached her first WTA 1000 final in years.

And by August 2025, she was back in the Top 25.