Naomi Osaka’s older sister Mari has retired from tennis at 24 years-old. In an interview she said she does not enjoy the sport. Osaka was 340 in the WTA rankings, predominantly played her tennis on the ITF Tour. Mari has only played once this year, falling to Sarah Hamner in the first round of qualifying in straight sets at an ITF tournament in Georgia, USA on January 25.
“I am retired from playing tennis. It was a journey which I didn’t enjoy ultimately but I’m grateful for all the memories and support I’ve gained and received over the years from the sport. I’m moving on now so you can look forward to new fun projects upcoming in the future,” she wrote on Instagram.
In a previous interview Naomi also talked about her sister: “I always told myself, if I was able to give back to my family and the way that they’ve given so many things up for me, that’s something that is the most important part.
So, clearly, for me, I wouldn’t be her, without my sister. Up until I was 15 she was 6-0-ing me, ridiculous. I don’t know what happened, maybe finally something clicked in my head , but for sure she was beating me. In the win-loss record, she’s up by like a million or something.”
Over the course of her career she has won seven WTA titles out of eleven finals played, four of which are Grand Slam tournaments: she boasts the victory of two US Open in 2018 and 2020 and two Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
following the first Australian success, on 28 January 2019 it also reached the first place in the world ranking for the first time. Naomi was the first ever Japanese athlete to win a Grand Slam title, the third in the Open Era to qualify for the WTA Finals in 2018 and the first Asian ever to reach the top of the WTA rankings.
Over the course of her career she has won seven WTA titles out of eleven finals played, four of which are Grand Slam tournaments: she boasts the victory of two US Open in 2018 and 2020 and two Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
Following the first Australian success, on 28 January 2019 it also reached the first place in the world ranking for the first time. Naomi was the first ever Japanese athlete to win a Grand Slam title, the third in the Open Era to qualify for the WTA Finals in 2018 and the first Asian ever to reach the top of the WTA rankings.
In the final ranking of the highest paid sportsmen she occupies the twenty-ninth position, surpassed by the Big Three of men’s tennis: Roger Federer (first), Novak Đoković (twenty-third) and Rafael Nadal (twenty-seventh).