Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is renowned for her introverted personality and shyness when it comes to being in the limelight. Although now she wants to bury that perception of her for good.
The two-time grand slam champion has proclaimed that she ‘is done’ with being shy after missing out on a series of opportunities due to being too quiet. She came to the realisation during her time in lockdown in Los Angeles. The WTA Tour has been suspended since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it is unclear as to when the sport will start going again. Early this month the 22-year-old publicly expressed her desire to be more outgoing in a Twitter post.
“I’m done being shy. It’s really a waste of my time. I could’ve shared so many ideas by now, I could’ve had conversations with so many different people. All the things I could’ve learned but no I’m over here actually putting my own limiter on myself,” she wrote.
The post wasn’t a one-off or a random comment – she means business. Following her tweet, she then reiterated her determination during an interview with CNN Sport. Saying that she would like to overcome her crippling shyness in the near future.
“For me, I have a lot of regrets before I go to sleep, and most of the regret is that I don’t speak out about what I’m thinking,” Osaka explained.
One of her biggest regrets never took place on the court or was even tennis related. It involved an encounter she had with music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce. Two of Osaka’s idols. During an interview with wtatennis.com back in 2018, she described Beyonce as one of the people who inspire her along with her mum, sister and fellow player Serena Williams.
“He started talking to me, but I got really nervous and started giving one word replies so he suddenly said, ‘Are you shy?’ and I said, ‘yeah,’ and the convo came to a screeching halt.” She remembers of her meeting with Jay-Z.
So what would Osaka have said to the musical couple if she had the chance again? For her, she wanted to pay tribute to the influence both of them has had on her.
“I want to take the chance to tell people I appreciate them while I can,” she said.
“I would like to thank Jay-Z and Beyoncé for making music that motivates me, because there was a period in my life where I just watched Beyoncé performances to get motivated.
“Even right now I’m listening to older Jay-Z songs because I feel like they’re really chill.”
Osaka is currently ranked 10th in the world. She started 2020 by winning five out of eight matches played on the Tour with her best run being to the semi-finals of the Brisbane International.
