Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice - Hardcover

Rothenberg, Ben

 
9780593472439: Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593472438 ISBN 13: 9780593472439
Verlag: Dutton, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

A deeply reported, revealing biography of tennis phenomenon and activist Naomi Osaka, telling the untold story behind her Grand Slam-winning career, her headline-making advocacy for racial justice and mental health, and the challenges of a life in the international spotlight.

Naomi Osaka is everywhere, but how did she get there?

Most tennis fans were introduced to Naomi Osaka as they watched her win the 2018 US Open final in an unforgettably controversial and dramatic victory over her idol, Serena Williams.

Her extraordinary talent propelled her to the top of her sport and onto the front page of newspapers and magazines worldwide, but it was her unique blend of awe-striking power and disarming vulnerability that fascinated millions as she became a champion like none before her.

Osaka has captivated the tennis world-- and gained attention across the culture-- not only by winning three more Grand Slams but by finding her voice on a range of topics that have made her a touchstone far beyond sports, positioned at the crossroads of myriad social issues.

Even as she became the highest-paid female athlete in history and one of the most discussed of the past decade, until now, the story of the Haitian-Japanese-American Osaka family’s journey across the world to follow their tennis dreams has remained little known. It is a story unlike any other, and Ben Rothenberg’s biography not only shows where Osaka came from but also where she's going as she returns to competitive tennis after a year on maternity leave. Through a riveting exploration of the ways Osaka has changed the game on and off the court, Rothenberg details the incredible impact Osaka has had in the arenas of sports, media, business, social justice, and mental health.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Ben Rothenberg is a sportswriter from Washington, D.C. who has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014, both in print for The New York Times-- for which he covered tennis from 2011-2022-- and on his podcast, No Challenges Remaining. His work has focused on the intersections of social and cultural issues in tennis. His longform writing has been published in outlets including Slate and Racquet. He has also appeared frequently as a tennis expert on international networks such as CNN, the BBC, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. With an eye for finding stories and dogged determination as a reporter, Rothenberg has been called  "the most powerful tennis journalist in the world" and is one of the leading voices in the sport—including on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he has more than 150,000 followers.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

One

Paradise

In soft Spanish pinks and bright, buttery yellows, the banners and graphics emblazoned around the Indian Wells Tennis Garden proclaim each visitor's ascendance to a higher plane: "welcome to tennis paradise."

Indian Wells, a small resort community in the California desert just southeast of Palm Springs, hosts the annual tennis tournament, which has grown into the world's largest outside the four Grand Slam events, luring in the world's best players for a two-week tournament with the paired promises of perfect weather and a prize money purse over $9 million.

Ever since Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of the software company Oracle, bought the tournament in 2009, the most heavenly delights in "Tennis Paradise" haven't come cheap for attendees. The most expensive ticket packages inside the stadium can cost upwards of $13,000 per seat for the tournament. At the Nobu restaurant overlooking the court of Stadium 2, the lobster salad with grilled shiitake mushrooms goes for $65 and the grilled Japanese A5 Wagyu steak runs $38 per ounce, at a minimum of four ounces; either pairs nicely with the Rémy Martin Louis XIII Grande Champagne cognac for $350 a glass.

Hundreds of thousands drive over from Los Angeles or flock in on flights from colder parts of North America each March to pose around the grounds for carefully composed Instagram pictures in front of mountains and palm trees beneath the vivid, no-filter cerulean sky. For them, it's all a small price to pay to make other people jealous as they momentarily scroll past your life. Because at Indian Wells, where you're told every which way you turn that you're in paradise, your life is going to look just perfect from a distance.


There is, it can be easy to forget, another class of attendees at Indian Wells who aren’t there to eat, drink, and be seen: the people who are actually there for the tennis. In addition to its stadiums, Indian Wells has become a destination for ardent tennis fans hoping to see the sport’s biggest stars up close and personal on the practice courts. With a grounds pass that can be bought for as little as $20, a fan with a plan can stake out a spot to see his or her favorite players warming up for their matches in a relaxed, intimate environment. For the most eager and outgoing, smart positioning near the exits of the courts can yield opportunities for autographs and selfies if the player is willing.

On Saturday, March 12, 2022, the twenty-four-year-old tennis player Naomi Osaka is scheduled to have her pre-match practice at 5:00 p.m. on Practice Court 1. Naomi is practicing late because she is on late: her second-round match against Russia's Veronika Kudermetova is scheduled to be the second match of the Saturday evening session, a slot that is a bit beyond prime time at Indian Wells but a showcase Sunday afternoon slot for the television audience in Japan.

There are a few hundred grandstand seats around Practice Court 1; in the minutes before she is scheduled to arrive, every seat is filled. Another row of people stands behind the back row on the side to peer over the seated spectators. Soon, a second row stands behind the first standing row. Soon again, a third row of people gathers to stand on tiptoes behind the first two rows and peers through whatever gaps there might be for a glimpse of the four-time major champion.

As the clock ticks past 5:00 p.m., Naomi's name and face appear on a courtside electronic display board, but Naomi herself is nowhere to be seen. "Is she coming?" asks one boy at 5:06 p.m. As the clock ticks past 5:10 p.m., kids holding the jumbo tennis balls used to collect autographs appear increasingly antsy. "Maybe she's waiting so there's a bigger reception for her when she comes," one man suggests. Around 5:20 p.m., those who had turned their backs to the court to look toward the players' patio spot Naomi emerging at last. But instead of turning left to Practice Court 1, she and her team walk straight across the field to empty Practice Court 7. Only a handful of the crowd at Practice Court 1 spot Naomi make her detour; they break off surreptitiously from the larger crowd so as not to cause a stampede that might cost them prime seating at the smaller, secluded court.

Naomi arrives with her team in tow: Wim Fissette, the forty-one-year-old Belgian who had been her coach for the last two and a half years, her strength and conditioning coach Yutaka Nakamura, her physiotherapist Natsuko "Nana" Mogi, and her young Belgian hitting partner, Seppe Cuypers. Naomi is dressed entirely in her favorite color, black. Above black leggings that end just below her knees, she wears a black T-shirt brightened only by the white logos of three of her primary sponsors: Nike, the software company Workday, and the skincare company Kinlò. She wears a black cap on her head that has her Nike-made "NO" monogram in white on the front, and the red-and-yellow logo of Mastercard, another major sponsor of hers, on the side.

As a handful of fans slide into the dozens of empty seats above and behind the court, Naomi begins a jogging warm-up, which both Nakamura and Mogi do alongside her, clapping and laughing. After stretching with a medicine ball, Naomi picks up her racquet and walks out onto the court, across the net from Cuypers. As the two begin by standing close to the net and hitting softly, Naomi holds the racquet only with her left hand, laughing and doing a pirouette between shots. The next day, a fan will upload a video of these moments with a soundtrack of bouncy Japanese pop music and the caption "The world's cutest girl who loves practice."

Slowly and subtly, Naomi and Cuypers, a twenty-three-year-old whose Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking peaked at 1,449th, have each backed away from the net while hitting and are standing on opposite baselines of the court, ramping up to whacking the ball back and forth at full strength. The pops from Naomi's crisp, clean contact with the ball against the center of her polyester racquet strings can be heard clearly despite the growing crowd, which has by now located her at Practice Court 7; her fans are resolutely respectful and even reverent, aware that they are watching a professional at work. But the work looks fun from the stands: even as she is crushing forehands, Naomi is still cracking smiles. When a ball skips off the net cord and over Cuypers's flailing racquet, she teasingly says, "Embarrassing, embarrassing!" When she nets a simple volley, she squeaks a quick "Sorry!" to Cuypers.

Naomi doesn't acknowledge the gathering crowd behind the court as she rallies with Cuypers, but when she switches sides of the court between drills a young fan says "Hi, Naomi!" as she nears. She looks up, smiles, and waves.

After a few minutes of serve practice, Fissette approaches Naomi and they begin to discuss specific patterns to employ against Kudermetova in the upcoming match. "First serves can go anywhere; second serves?" Naomi asks, and Fissette replies with a soft voice to lower the volume of the conversation below audience audibility. Fissette is collaborative in his conversations on court, listening rather than just lecturing. Naomi is deferential by nature, but Fissette doesn't exploit that to dominate their conversations, like many coaches would.

The practice wraps with Fissette softly floating several balls to Naomi for her to crush with full power, ending the brief session on an emphatic, confidence-building note. After Naomi finishes with the biggest bangs, like a fireworks display might, the hundreds watching cheer softly but warmly. After just twenty minutes on court, Naomi and her team are done and begin to pack up their bags. Naomi's older sister, Mari, walks on court as the team is wrapping up, and Naomi playfully pokes at her with a water bottle, which Mari bats...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Dutton
Erscheinungsdatum
2024
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593472438
ISBN 13 
9780593472439
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
496
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Dutton
https://www.penguin.com/dutton-childrens-overview/

Im Mittelfeld 25
K?ln
Deutschland
51105
Deutschland

Weitere beliebte Ausgaben desselben Titels

9781922790927: Naomi Osaka

Vorgestellte Ausgabe

ISBN 10:  1922790923 ISBN 13:  9781922790927
Verlag: The Text Publishing Company, 2024
Softcover