Naomi’s rise treading Tiger’s path

Staying in the States for extended periods of time these past couple of years has turned me into a sports couch potato.

My favorite sport to watch is tennis, especially the women’s, which our local channels do not cover.

I have been following the rise of the United States—trained Japanese star Naomi Osaka, the current World No. 1, for the past two years now.

After seeing her win at Indian Wells last year, I could see that it wouldn’t be long before she competed in the Majors.

She beat Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open in a heart-wrenching final and after that won the Australian Open last Saturday by defeating Petra Kitova, in a most emotional and dramatic fashion, 7-6,5-7,6-4.

I’ve been looking for a possible logical explanation, formula or even recipe behind the success of this young phenom and only one thing comes to my mind.

Could it be the combination of her black athleticism and  Asian focus that sets her apart from the rest of the field?

To be able to have harnessed these qualities and capitalized on them at such a young age has left me, and I believe, the rest of the tennis world, dumbfounded.

Twenty years ago, there was a young boy from a similar ancestral lineage in a different sport who had done the same, dominating the field of golf at such a young age.

This man, of course we all know, is Tiger Woods.

Single-handedly, he reshaped the game of golf and made it a sport accessible to all.

I am eager to see how women’s tennis will carry on from here, now that there’s this new superstar named Naomi Osaka.