Naomi Osaka is a face of the Tokyo Olympics but is worried about COVID-19

Japanese star Naomi Osaka, who is the favourite for the 2021 Australian Open, continues to bolster what is the largest sponsorship portfolio of any female athlete in the world.

Naomi Osaka has a hit on Rod Laver Arena as she prepares for the Australian Open

As a prominent face of the Tokyo Olympics, Naomi Osaka would love to represent Japan at home in August. But the three-time major champion is concerned for the safety of the Japanese public.

The International Olympic Committee expressed confidence last week the Games, but despite the official optimism, considerable doubt remains given the carnage wreaked by COVID-19.

A recent survey found 30 per cent of Japanese don’t think the Games should go ahead and sponsors are scaling back advertising campaigns and marketing as a result.

Osaka remains confident and his happy to spend a fortnight in quarantine in order to compete in Tokyo, having just done the same thing before her appearance in an exhibition against Serena Williams

But the 2019 Australian Open champion made clear she is worried about the potential outcome in her country.

“Honestly, my concern isn’t the athletes,” she said. “The way that I feel is … I would stay in my room for two weeks to play the Olympics. I missed out on the last one. Playing in Tokyo would be very special to me.

“My concern would be the general safety of everyone else, because you’re opening the country.

“Everyone is flying in from different places. I would just want … the public to feel safe. I feel like the athletes definitely would want to play, but I would want the public to feel safe.”

Osaka, of course, has just flown into Australia to quarantine with more than 1200 Australian Open affiliated personnel from around the world in order for the nation’s biggest tennis tournament to proceed.

There was a significant storm initially when a handful of positive tests were recorded among the cohort in three hotels in Melbourne and one in Adelaide, with many pondering the merits of the gamble.

But with the majority of travelling personnel having completed quarantine, the action began at Melbourne Park on Sunday in two separate WTA Tour events.

Osaka, who was edged by Williams in a match tie-breaker in the Adelaide exhibition, is the second seed in the Gippsland Classic behind world No 2 Simona Halep.

She has not played a competitive match since claiming the US Open for the second time when she came from a set behind to defeat Victoria Azarenka.

The 23-year-old is the favourite for the Australian Open at $5.50 in what is considered an extremely open field given the talent on offer.

The dual-US Open champion may not have been active on the court since September, but she looked in reasonable touch in the warm-up against Williams.

But Osaka has been particularly busy off the court, which is not a surprise given she is the highest-paid female athlete in history.
In the past week she has made a significant investment in a US women’s soccer franchise, the North Carolina Courage.

The investment is indicative of how her profile has moved beyond the sport in the US, particularly in what proved to be a politically divisive 2020.

Her activism during the US summer of tennis drew global attention.

She withdrew from the Cincinnati Open in the week prior to her success at the US Open in a bid to raise awareness regarding the shooting by police of 29-year-old black man Jacob Blake.

During the US Open, she wore a different mask before each of her seven matches, each bearing the names of African-Americans killed in recent years, the majority by police.

She was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year alongside athletes including LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes for their activism.

There was a time when any form of activism was fraught with repercussions for an athlete.

But as Osaka has used her voice and profile more frequently to make a stand, sponsors have only found her a more enticing proposition to back. In the business of tennis, few have bigger portfolios.

In the past month Osaka, who was estimated by Forbes to have earned more than $50 million in the last financial year, signed with Louis Vuitton.

Osaka does not feel like she is the “face” of women’s tennis, instead pointing to Williams.

But she is clearly the identity many global brands are clamouring to use as the face of the future, though the world No 3 said she is picky when agreeing to represent a company.

“Basically, what I’ve learned is that people can tell if you are fake or not,” she said.

“I think that sort of stems from … being patient, because you don’t really want to leap at every first opportunity.”