Naomi Osaka had a surprising way of describing her tennis career ahead of the US Open. The four-time Grand Slam champion said motherhood came first, while tennis had become her “side hustle.”
Osaka, 28, spoke about raising her three-year-old daughter, Shai, while preparing for another run at Flushing Meadows. The perspective marked a major shift for a player who once wondered whether motherhood would end her career.
Naomi Osaka says being a mom to daughter Shai is her main job, with tennis coming second
Speaking with reporters before the tournament, Osaka made her priorities crystal clear. “I think people forget my main job is to be a mom,” she said, according to the media “This [tennis] is kind of like my side hustle a little bit. I just happen to be really good at it.”
The comment came after Osaka skipped the Cincinnati Open. She initially cited fatigue, but later explained that she needed time at home with Shai. That decision did not mean Osaka had lost her competitive spark. She called the US Open surface her favorite and returned to the tournament as the No. 13 seed.
Shai had also started developing her own relationship with the sport. Osaka said her daughter had not stepped onto a “real court” yet, but “loves swinging her little mini racket around.”
For Osaka, tennis offered more than trophies. “I feel like [tennis] teaches you a lot,” she said, pointing to discipline and other qualities she gained through sports. Motherhood had changed how Osaka viewed the game. She welcomed Shai with ex-boyfriend Cordae in July 2023, and the couple split in January. Osaka later called their daughter her “biggest blessing” while praising Cordae as “a great person and an awesome dad.”
Before becoming a mother, Osaka had already worried about pregnancy taking her away from tennis. She later described the experience as tougher than she expected. “I don’t think people know how hard pregnancy is,” she told InStyle in 2023.
Yet pregnancy also renewed her love for the sport. Osaka previously told PEOPLE that she wanted Shai to see her play because tennis had shaped so much of her life. That motivation helped bring Osaka back to the court instead of stepping away. She reached the US Open semifinals in 2025 before losing to Amanda Anisimova.
Now, Osaka was chasing another Grand Slam run with a very different definition of success. The trophies still mattered, but getting home to Shai mattered more.
