Tennis Chief Reluctant To Compare Naomi Osaka’s Rise To The Big Three

The 47-year-old says she ‘wouldn’t rule out’ Osaka winning a couple more major titles and then moving on to other things.

The head of women’s tennis in Germany says Naomi Osaka is in a ‘class of her own’ but has cast doubt on how long her priorities within the sport will last.

Barbara Rittner, who is a former top 30 player in both singles and doubles, spoke out about the world No.2 during an interview with newspaper Tz. Osaka is currently on a 21-match winning streak and recently won her fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month.

She is only the fourth active player on the WTA Tour to have won at least four major titles after Serena Williams (23), Venus Williams (7) and Kim Clijsters (4).

“Naomi Osaka is currently in a class of her own on hard court with trainer Wim Fissette at her side,” said Rittner. “Nevertheless, she had to fend off match points against (Garbine) Muguruza. It could have been over for them early. It wasn’t a walk in the park. The form of the day always plays a role here.”

Branding the Japanese player a ‘better version of Serena Williams’ at present, the tennis chief says it is too early to tell if she could be able to dominate the women’s game in the same way the Big Three have done so on the men’s Tour.

Osaka has won only seven WTA titles so far in her career and has scored 12 wins over top 10 players.

“These players (the Big 3) have been extremely focused on their sport for almost two decades,” Rittner said. “That Osaka says in a few years: ‘That’s it for me. Five Grand Slam titles are enough for me. Now I take care of other things in life’ – I wouldn’t rule out.”

Last year Forbes Magazine named Osaka the highest paid female athlete in the world with earnings of $37.4 million. $34 million of those earnings came solely from endorsements. Her sponsors include All Nippon Airways, Mastercard, Nike, Nissan Motor, Nissin Foods Holdings, Procter & Gamble, Shiseido and Yonex. Earlier this year she invested in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team North Carolina Courage.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 15: Naomi Osaka of Japan arrives at the 2017 Australian Open party at Crown on January 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)

In Rittner’s view one of the most unique aspects of Osaka is her desire to speak out on social issues. During the US Open she highlighted cases of police brutality in America by wearing masks with names of those who have been affected by it.

She also threatened to boycott one of her matches at the Western and Southern Open over the police shooting of Jacob Blake before officials decided to delay the tournament by 24 hours to show their solidarity.

“The easier way is to just focus on the sport and stay out of social debates. So you don’t make yourself vulnerable. Osaka consciously chooses a different path and stands up for its convictions. I find that remarkable,” she commented.

Osaka is set to return to action later this month at the Miami Open.