Naomi Osaka is now such a bona fide superstar (the highest-paid woman athlete in the world, according to Forbes) that it's wild to remember that she only burst onto the scene back in 2018, at just 20 years old, after beating Serena Williams in the US Open. Now, Osaka is a fashion icon, an advocate for racial justice [1] and mental health [2], and one of the top tennis players in the world. Part of that remarkable journey will soon be shown in Naomi Osaka, a three-part Netflix docu-series that drops July 16.
The doc takes place over two years, following Osaka's rise on the court and off as she developed as an athlete and an activist; in the trailer, you see a glimpse of the masks she wore at the 2020 US Open [3], bearing the names of Black people lost to racism and police brutality. The series also dives into Osaka's family background, with the tennis player admitting that one of her main goals in sport was to be able to support her mother. Osaka also speaks about the importance of her Haitian and Japanese roots.
In a statement, the series' Oscar-nominated director, Garret Bradley, described it as a snapshot of Osaka's life, but also a meditation about "life's purpose, about personal worth, about the courage that it takes to allow one's personal values to inform their work and vice versa." Watch the compelling trailer above and get ready to add this one to your queue.
