The star of the new series opens up about it on social media.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 17, 2021
There’s an ear-catching line from the trailer for the new Netflix docuseries, “Naomi Osaka,” which officially became available on Netflix on Friday July 16. As the video cuts between sequences, Osaka says: “I’ve always had this pressure to maintain the squeaky image, but now I don’t care what anyone has to say.”
If that’s a proper indication of level of honesty that the series (and Osaka) is operating at, viewers should be in for a spell-binding look into the mind of the four-time major champion.
Given the fact that Osaka has not played since the first round of Roland-Garros, it’s a well-timed release, with the Japanese megastar set to resume her tennis career, and an extraordinary life lived in the public eye, next week at the tennis portion of the Tokyo Olympics, which commence on July 24.
“So this has been in the process for the past two and a half years,” Osaka wrote in a Twitter post, explaining her feelings of anticipation on the day the docuseries was released. “In light of everything that has happened recently I was terrified of this being released. This is isn’t like a tennis match where I win or lose and from there people can say whether I did well or not. This is a look into my life from certain time periods and I can’t fight the feeling of wondering how it will be received.”
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) July 16, 2021
The three-part series, which became available on Netflix on Friday July 16, is dubbed as an “Intimate series follows Naomi Osaka as she explores her cultural roots and navigates her multifaceted identity as a tennis champ and rising leader.”
Osaka, herself, calls it her “soul”.
“This is in some ways my soul and a reflection of who I am. I hope there are pieces that people can relate to and maybe other pieces that would help people understand why I make the choices I make. If it doesn’t that’s cool too, it took me a while but I realize that I can’t please everyone and I’m really not trying to. When I go to sleep at night I can only hope I am at peace with myself and I hope the same thing rings true for anyone reading this. I’m excited/ nervous for you guys to see t and I hope you enjoy it.”
