Naomi Osaka Shares Special Message to Fans & Rare Childhood Footage on IG

Naomi Osaka has a message for everyone who's supporting her on her tennis journey.

Early in December, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, 26, shared a statement on Instagram to thank her fans for showing her "patience" as she prepares for her return to the tennis court.

The first slide reads, "For everyone that supported me through the years, thank you. Thank you for believing in me and thank you for putting up with me. I know we’ve shared some really amazing memories, and I also know that I’ve done some things that I wish I would’ve handled differently (lol). Regardless of all that, thank you for allowing me to grow up on my own time and thank you for showing me a ton of patience."

The statement continues, "I don’t know what I did to deserve you all but I’m so extremely grateful. Very honored to be going on chapter two of this tennis journey together and I’m so excited to see you guys next year."

In the second slide, the athlete shared a rare childhood clip of herself enjoying a meal with her classmates, and she simply captioned the post with a red heart emoji.

Osaka's message came five months after she welcomed her daughter, Shai, with her boyfriend and rapper Cordae. When she made her pregnancy announcement in January 2023, she revealed her plans to take a brief hiatus from tennis to focus on being a mom.