Netflix's new documentary series Naomi Osaka is a navel-gazing study of the loneliness of success and the burden of a nation's hero-worship
by Joseph McAleer
Tennis fans struggling to understand the stunning decline of former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka this year – and her bold statement, "I don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match," following her surprise defeat in the second round of the U.S. Open – would do well to watch the eponymous three-part documentary streaming now on Netflix.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, "The worst thing that can happen to you is to get what you've always wanted." It would seem that, from the moment she shocked the world by defeating Serena Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open – the first of her four Grand Slam singles titles – Osaka has been downright miserable. Or so suggests this fly-on-the-wall documentary, as cameras follow Osaka around the world on a punishing schedule over the next two years.
Although this documentary was completed long before this year's French Open, Osaka's surprising departure from Roland-Garros and then Wimbledon, citing mental health issues, and even her poor performance at the Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. Open, now make perfect sense, as she has evidently struggled with the spotlight and living up to the expectations of fans and critics, not to mention pesky sports reporters.
"You have to be mentally strong to play tennis as it is a solo sport. You're kind of by yourself," Osaka admits.
Osaka certainly experienced such loneliness in 2018, winning the U.S. Open at the tender age of 20. The crowd was squarely on Williams' side that day as she returned from pregnancy leave and sought to tie Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. Clashes with the chair umpire and cries of sexism whipped up sympathy. When Osaka beat the fan favorite in straight sets, she wept as the partisan crowd booed. She somehow summoned the courage to say, "I know everyone was cheering for her and I'm sorry it had to end like this." Hardly a moment of joy and a day to remember.
Nonplussed, Osaka went on to win the 2019 Australian Open – the first woman to win consecutive Grand Slam titles since Serena Williams in 2015 – defying naysayers who saw her victory in Flushing Meadows as a fluke. Now as the first Asian player to achieve a world number one ranking, the real pressure was on – and the self-doubts intensified.
Born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, Osaka has lived in the United States since she was three years old, and has been playing tennis since. She and her older sister Mari were home-schooled, with Osaka noting they never had much interaction with peers. "No one really knows all the sacrifices you make, just to be good," she says.
Her father and trainer, Leonard, was inspired by Richard Williams and his incredible success with daughters Venus and Serena. "Before the U.S. Open, so many people told my dad that I would never be anything," Osaka says. But father and daughter persevered. Unfortunately, director Garrett Bradley does a huge disservice in ignoring Osaka's early years, depriving viewers of the build-up to her stunning U.S. Open victory at the tender age of 21.
Instead, Naomi Osaka is an exercise in navel-gazing, as Osaka shares her thoughts and fears while undergoing an arduous training regime and dealing with extreme hero-worship in her native Japan.
"I think the amount of attention I get is kind of ridiculous," she admits. "No one prepares you for that. I feel like I'm struggling. There are moments I get overwhelmed and don't really know what to do."
It also feels like she is entirely on her own, despite doting parents, a devoted sister and boyfriend, and the usual entourage of coaches and trainers. She never appears to be enjoying her privileged life (at $55 million so far this year, the highest-earning female athlete in the world), nor takes steps to slow things down. In addition to her tennis, she launches a fashion collection, adding to the workload.
Instead, Osaka seems to sleepwalk from one tournament to the next, which makes her overnight awakening as a political activist all the more surprising. "There's a build-up of things I want to say but I am super-scared," she says. "I'm supposed to be a silent, good person and maintain the image."
Twin tragedies changed her mind: the loss of friend and mentor, Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash, and the death of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Osaka joins the protests against the latter, and, at the 2020 U.S. Open, wears face masks emblazoned with the names of Floyd and other African-American victims of police violence.
"I always have this pressure to maintain the squeaky image, but now I don't care what anyone has to say," Osaka says, finding her voice. Switching coaches, she wins the 2020 U.S. Open and the 2021 Australian Open.
"Naomi Osaka" is not without its poignant, revealing moments. When she defeats 15-year-old Coco Gauff in the third round in the 2019 Australian Open, Gauff is naturally distraught. Osaka, relating to her youth and inexperience, persuades her to dry her tears and join her for an on-camera interview. "It's better than crying alone in the shower," she says, knowingly. Osaka becomes the mentor and friend she perhaps wishes she had at Gauff's age.
When Gauff subsequently turns the tables and defeats Osaka at the 2020 Australian Open, it feels like a torch has been passed.
"I'm losing matches because I am mentally weak," Osaka suggests.
Later on, traveling to Haiti with her father, Osaka turns wistful. "For so long I’ve tied winning to my worth as a person. To anyone that would know me, they know me for being a tennis player. So what am I if I’m not a good tennis player?” she says, somewhat disingenuously. "Honestly I'm too far down this path to even wonder what could have been."
Speculating that she might have gone to college like her peers, Osaka barely skips a beat. "I can get that experience by watching movies," she says. A future as a tennis superstar is never in doubt – at least at the time this documentary was filmed.
One can't help but wonder what might have been, had "Naomi Osaka" been released a few weeks earlier, before the French Open. The world might have had a better appreciation of Osaka's frame of mind, and the ensuing public sympathy might have bolstered her confidence and performance, as happened in the case of Simone Biles at the Olympics.
In any event, as tennis fans anxiously await Osaka's next move, the documentary adds to the growing and important conversation about athletes and their mental health.
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