Naomi Osaka, the new face of Tennis after beating Serena Williams to win the U.S Open championship have an interesting past. While the debate about her bi-culture is still the main topic on social media. Right now people want to know how come Naomi doesn’t go by her Haitian father’s last name.
Well, Naomi’s mother Tamaki Osaka had a not so long relationship with her father Leonard Francois, a Haitian born. According to the New York Times, both parents faced difficulties due a divide culture, since her mom side is from a town called Osaka, Japan. We don’t know how it works in Japan, but her mother’s last name is after the city. Anyway, according to the reports, Francois moved to Japan after attending NYU where he later met Tamaki, but Naomi’s grandfather was ”furious” to find out Tamaki was romantically involved with a black man. After being separated for so long (over 10 years), Naomi was forced to carry her mother’s last name Osaka.
Osaka also have a sister. Both Naomi and Mari Osaka took their mother’s last name instead of their father’s. Mari is also a professional Tennis player. Here a video of the two on IG. They’re kinda like twins.
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During an interview with the New York Times, Osaka also told reporters she chose to represent her mother’s country Japan instead of Haiti where her father was born because Japan had more money than Haiti to sponsor her career. But she is very proud of where her father is from. “Japanese culture? I love everything about it. . . . America, I live here. I train in Florida. . . . And Haiti, if you’ve ever met a Haitian person, they are really positive, and literally if you’re friends with them, then they will do anything for you. That’s something that is a really good trait, and I’m really happy that my grandparents and my dad’s side of the family is like that.” She told the New York Times.
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Picture of Leonard Francois, Tamaki and the girls (#throwback)
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