![\"Osaka-heads-to-Melbourne-with-world-at-her-feet-rapid-news-rapidnews-dailyrapidnews\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Osaka-heads-to-Melbourne-with-world-at-her-feet-rapid-news-rapidnews-dailyrapidnews.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAustralian Open favourite Naomi Osaka heads to Melbourne seeking a fourth Grand Slam title to further fuel her ascent towards the top of the women\u2019s game on court and amplify her voice off it.<\/p>\n
The Japanese won the last major of 2020 in New York wearing a different face mask for each match bearing the name of Black Americans who had died to highlight racial injustice.<\/p>\n
Osaka has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in Japan and the United States, where she lives, using her profile to advance the cause.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m vocal because I believe in the movement and want to try to use my platform to facilitate change,\u201d Osaka told Reuters last year.<\/p>\n
Her voice is particularly powerful not only due to her on-court success but also because of a raft of sponsors, including the recently added watchmaker Tag Heuer and business tool Workday, who are eager get behind the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n
Osaka is now the world\u2019s highest paid female athlete, supplanting her hero and rival Serena Williams, although she believes the American is still the leading player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m one of the new people… As long as Serena\u2019s here, I think she\u2019s the face of women\u2019s tennis,\u201d Osaka said at a news conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n
She has a long way to go to match Serena\u2019s 23 Grand Slam crowns although a second Australian Open title — Osaka triumphed in Melbourne in 2019 \u2013 would leave only the Williams\u2019 sisters having won more majors among active female players.<\/p>\n
However, following exhibition matches in Adelaide, Osaka admitted to being a little rusty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there\u2019s a lot of shots that I\u2019m missing,\u201d said the world number three, who last played competitively at the U.S. Open in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to be able to do them properly, be confident with how I feel about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osaka will also be keen to avoid the sort of capitulation she suffered at last year\u2019s Australian Open, when she lost to American teenager Coco Gauff in the third round.<\/p>\n
Osaka said she had buckled under the pressure of being the defending champion and called the loss \u201ca wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, at Flushing Meadows last year Osaka showed she can also feed off the attention and pressure and, if the Japanese can harness her power, both physical and mental, in Melbourne, she will be difficult to stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australian Open favourite Naomi Osaka heads to Melbourne seeking a fourth Grand Slam title to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n