Japanese professional tennis player Naomi Osaka He is one of the foremost Asians to have played the game. Former world number 1, four-time Grand Slam singles champion with two Australian and two US Open titles. Besides impressive field performance, Osaka is also known to be open when it comes to the mental health and well-being of athletes.
In May 2022, Osaka announced that it had partnered with its manager. Stuart Duguid after being represented by IMG for six years to start his own sports agency Evolve. Essentially, the agency focuses on brand collaborations, investment, creating athlete-owned ventures, and philanthropy. australian professional, Nick Kirgios He became Evolve’s first customer.
In a recent interview with meeting roomOsaka and Duguid spoke of sports startups calling him the “modern boss”. “The most interesting part of the job for me is investing” Osaka told Boardroom. “I’ve learned a ton of things in the last 18 months. That’s probably the area I’m most engaged in,” Also loved it.
Naomi looked around and saw LeBron, KD, and Tom Brady. ‘Why can’t I be like all these male superstars?’ said.” Talking about what really inspired him to start the initiative, Duguid said:
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Naomi Osaka’s off-court life, activism in professional tennis
In the last few years, Naomi Osaka He emerged as an entrepreneur with his own media company Hana Kuma, skincare brand KINLO, and fitness agency Evolve, which he founded with Stuart Duguid, a longtime representative at IMG.
Osaka is known as one of the leading activists in professional tennis, in addition to breaking into multiple different businesses. Recently, the 25-year-old has become one of the very few athletes on the tour to openly talk about the rarely discussed mental health of players. In 2021, shortly before the start of the French Open, he announced that he would not be performing mandatory media duties, citing mental health issues.
Apart from the welfare of the players, Osaka has also taken a determined stance on various humanitarian issues. He withdrew from the Cincinnati Open in New York in 2020 to draw attention to the shooting of Jacob Blake by the police, causing him to postpone all ATP and WTA games for one day to support the purpose of this tournament.
Fast forward to the present time, Osaka’s next pitch is still uncertain. In the case of the Australian Open 2023, he can enter the tournament as a wild card. Therefore, fans who can’t wait to see him in action again may have to wait even longer.
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