Naomi Osaka by Micaiah Carter in WSJ Magazine September 2020 'Winner Take All'

Naomi Osaka, the 22-year-old tennis champ currently ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles covers the September 2020 issue of WSJ Magazine.

Jessica Willis styled Osaka, who is lensed by Micaiah Carter (IG) in ‘Winner Take All’. On the subject of winning, Osaka has advanced to the Tuesday quarter-finals of the US Open, playing before no crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

Forbes estimated in May 2020 that Naomi Osaka is now the highest-paid female athlete, earning an estimated $37.4 million in price money and endorsements in the last 12 months. That financial haul is estimated to be $1.4 million more than Serena Williams, setting an all-time earnings record for a female athlete in a single year.

In her interview, Osaka reflects on her late mentor, Kobe Bryant, with whom she bonded in June 2019.“There would be some really tough losses,” Osaka said. “I didn’t even know he was paying attention, but he would text me positive things and tell me to learn from it. For me, it was definitely helpful.”

Osaka is one of several athletes featured in a new short Nike film inspired by Bryant titled ‘Better’. The moving film was released on August 23 as Better | Mamba Forever | Nike. Narrated by rapper Kendrick Lamar, the tears-generating, powerful 90-second film is a montage of Bryant footage, mixed with other star athletes including Naomi, Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe and more.

“Kobe taught us to be better,” narrates Lamar. “ . . . Just be better.”

Naomi Osaka also took a stand for Black lives in response to the shooting of jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. Playing at the 2020 Western & Southern Open prior to the US Open, Osaka cancelled her semifinal match, compelling the entire tournament to pause play for the day.

“[B]efore I am an athlete, I am a black woman,” tweeted Osaka, who is of Japanese-Haitian descent. “And as a Black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.

Naomi is far more of an activist than when AOC last wrote about her. She attended protests for George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, joining her rapper boyfriend Cordae and recounting her trip in the WSJ Magazine cover story..