Naomi Osaka, Formerly Of Valley Stream, Wins Australian Open

Long Beach NY

24 February, 2021

8:34 AM

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VALLEY STREAM, NY — Naomi Osaka is the woman's Australian Open 2021 champ, adding the title to three other major wins by age 23. The Japanese-citizen tennis talent spent her early childhood years in Valley Stream before moving to Florida to continue her tennis training. Osaka has won every final she's made it to so far. Osaka was born in Japan and moved to Long Island with her parents when she was three years old. Osaka's father is of Haitian descent and her mother Japanese. Osaka is currently the highest-paid female tennis player. She made headlines when she beat Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open for the women's win. Her father told the New York Times he was inspired by the Williams sisters' rise to tennis fame and decided to teach his daughters to play. Osaka relinquished her American citizenship in order to represent Japan in the 2019 Olympics. In a 2018 interview with the New York Times, Osaka remembers her five years on Long Island as where she first made it onto public tennis court, coached by her father. By beating American player Jennifer Brady at this year's Australian Open, Osaka becomes only the seventh player, male or female, to nab four Grand Slam titles.