Skip to Content
Off Court

A Letter From Naomi Osaka

[vc_empty_space height="5px"]

By Naomi Osaka

[vc_empty_space height="15px"]This issue isn’t all about me, it’s about my world. I feel like this is a different lens to see my orbit from—a more interesting one for the reader. Everyone knows most of my answers to the standard questions by now, so there’s not much more I can add to my biography or tennis results. So asking Racquet to write about and illustrate my world, I hope, will allow people to see me from a different perspective. I felt it was time to offer a commentary on the culture around the periphery of tennis, rather than forehands and backhands. The edition touches on things I’m interested in like fashion, travel, art, and photography, so there was so much potential to broaden the context in which I’m seen.

Racquet published one of the first profiles of me, in the fall of 2016, before I’d made a mark in professional tennis. I think it was interesting back then because most people didn’t know me or my story, but now it’s been told so many times it’s starting to lose its relevance, so I’m excited to do something different and fresh. There have been a lot of newspaper columns devoted to my personal story, so for me it’s time to turn the page and talk about cool stuff that we can all relate to together.

For the cover, I chose the Nigerian visual artist Dennis Osadebe. I have a few pieces of his in my house and I think he’s awesome. As for the rest of the magazine in your hands, the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder, so I have no preconceived ideas about what anyone will take away from this project. I hope there’s a broad enough spectrum here that there’s something that everyone can relate to, or enjoy consuming.

naomi_end-point

[vc_empty_space height="10px"]Above: Johanna Goodman (Getty/Robert Wilson)[vc_column width="1/6"][vc_tweetmeme share_via="racqetmagazine"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_facebook type="button_count"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_empty_space height="45px"][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_column width="1/2"]

ISSUE NO. 17
By NAOMI OSAKA

racquet_issue-17

[vc_btn title="BUY NOW" style="outline" shape="square" color="success" size="lg" align="center" button_block="true" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fracquetmag.com%2Fproduct%2Fissue-no-17%2F|title:GET%20IT%20NOW||"][vc_column width="1/4"]

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Racquet

A Rammed-Earth Sanctuary in Accra

A new tennis project in the city's Osu neighborhood blends cutting-edge architecture with ancient building methods to create a harmonious space for tennis.

November 11, 2025

The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Seen on a Tennis Court, by Tim Wojcik

Ok, fine, listen, if you twist my arm, here’s an answer: Dane Sweeny—one of those brave souls grinding it out week in week out on the Challenger tour for net negative earnings—gritting out the wildest point you or I will ever see.  

November 11, 2025

Lo Espejo Escape

A tennis academy in a rough area of Santiago, Chile, has transformed its kids—along with the man who started it all

November 6, 2025

How Do I Deal with an Opponent Full of Excuses?

One day, not so long after implementing my methods, your hitting partner will realize God gives his most minor inconveniences to his weakest soldiers.

November 4, 2025

Anyone for Tennis? A CT Fall Classic

On a crisp late-October afternoon, a crew of 40 New Yorkers descended upon Old Greenwich Tennis Academy, a family-run tennis club quietly sitting on one of the best party hacks of all time: rent the whole place, bring your friends, and call it a “tennis party.”

October 27, 2025
See all posts