Is Osaka the greatest Asian tennis player ever?

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steenkash

steenkash

Hall of Fame
I liked Mikey Chang, but Osaka has something special, atm I still do thing she is hyped up a lot, and needs to do better at clay and grass to be considered a great, however, surely the best Asian ever?
 
D

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
steenkash said:
Why not? So you are saying serena after 23 is not the greatest tennis player of all time .
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No but i already said that in your own thread on that topic. It's useless to compare both tours when they don't compete with each other. There is greatest male tennis player and greatest female tennis player. And don't tell me about boxing. (a) I don't accept moneybags insisting Mayweather is greater than Ali and (b) tennis is not boxing and tennis doesn't have weight classes.
 
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Crazy Finn

Hall of Fame
steenkash said:
I liked Mikey Chang, but Osaka has something special, atm I still do thing she is hyped up a lot, and needs to do better at clay and grass to be considered a great, however, surely the best Asian ever?
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Undoubtedly.

Chang had a good career, lots of longevity and titles, but I’m pretty sure 4 slams trumps that.
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
Yes.
Mikey?

No need to compare men's and women's tours.

Osaka has already surpassed Li Na per the WTA and Chang did not come close, achievements-wise, to what Osaka has already garnered.
 
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Crazy Finn

Hall of Fame
Tommy Haas said:
I don't think Osaka considers herself Asian. I think she identifies as black. Japanese is only her nationality, but racially she seems to identify more as being black.
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I think this has come up and when asked if she considers herself black or Asian, I think she said yes.

But, this is simply my recollection.
 
Swingmaster

Swingmaster

Hall of Fame
Tommy Haas said:
I don't think Osaka considers herself Asian. I think she identifies as black. Japanese is only her nationality, but racially she seems to identify more as being black. Kind of like Tiger Woods. I've never heard him talk about his Asian side.
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She’s been finding ways to inject some Japanese culture into her interviews. A lot of sushi talk, and green tea, and anime. She makes sure to give a little something to Japan.
 
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Deleted member 22147

Guest
Cortana said:
A lot. If you are a waste of air you don't deserve any recognition.
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And who decides who is a "waste of air" and on what basis?

Many believe Serena Williams is a waste of air. Do we discard her achievements?

Achievements are achievements, and were achieved in compliance with the policy and regulations set out by the governance at any given point in time. To think you can discard someone's achievements because they have made homophobic remarks is hilarious, but fitting of 2021.
 
ttbrowne

ttbrowne

Hall of Fame
I think she screwed up going with her black heritage over Asian. She only had to beat Li at the top of Asian category....now she'll have to eclipse Serena as the best black woman in tennis. And I am skeptical about her doing that. But maybe there was no true Asian roots in her everyday family life.
 
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Deleted member 688153

Guest
steenkash said:
Why not? So you are saying serena after 23 is not the greatest tennis player of all time .
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are you combining both tours here? if so of course not lol. And as cygs said she wouldn't even be on the women's side in terms of records.

no need to compare or combine the men's and women's tours. osaka is already easily the greatest female asian player
 
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Deleted member 688153

Guest
Cortana said:
A lot. If you are a waste of air you don't deserve any recognition.
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Nope. She can be a sh i t person, that's up to the reader, but she still won all the stuff and was an all time great tenniser.
 
gadge

gadge

Hall of Fame
Yes but I think Li na had much bigger influence on tennis in Asia than Osaka as she grew up there.
 
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Deleted member 688153

Guest
chjtennis said:
Chang and Osaka both have been brought up in USA, enjoyed the advanced development program there. Players like Li Na, Srichapan, Nishikori, etc., would be more 'pure' Asian players.
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Good point too

If you had no clue about her nationality and osaka had a USA flag next to her name you wouldn't bat an eye
 
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Deleted member 688153

Guest
So the real question is does she qualify for this thread at all. if she does then it's a slam dunk, if not it's Li Na
 
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dkmura

Professional
Naomi Osaka is a true multi-cultural personality. Her time being raised in Japan by her grandparents has nurtured that side of her and her self-effacing comments, shyness and humor seem to reflect that. Yes, she has several Japanese sponsors, and she not only represents them well, but garners the requisite financial rewards as well. Smart! She represents Japan well, and the country certainly has embraced her. Is she Japanese? Yes, and thus becomes the greatest Asian player (and still rising).

But Naomi also recognizes her Haitian side and encourages her supporters to be proud of that whenever she visits that island nation. She's become such a spokesperson for her black persona as well, and taking such a strong stand on racial justice and equality has allowed her to transcend being "just" a tennis champion. Let's not forget that being raised in the U.S. has had a profound effect on her. She's a individual and not afraid of taking a controversial stand if she feels strongly. She's an American in some ways. but a citizen of the world in so many other dimensions.
 
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J

Jd1boo

Rookie
She is American much like Chang was, but is of. Asian heritage. She grew up in the USA with a Haitian father and Japanese mother, and later signed on for the benefits of the Japanese tennis federation. She does not even speak Japanese.
 
L

ledwix

Hall of Fame
She would be accepted as black in the Caribbean and American in America, but never as Japanese in Japan. That homogeneous nation takes its racial purity seriously.

So yes, she highlights the flaws of multiculturalism. Not every culture wants to join in on the fun.

dkmura said:
She's become such a spokesperson for her black persona as well, and taking such a strong stand on racial justice and equality has allowed her to transcend being "just" a tennis champion. Let's not forget that being raised in the U.S. has had a profound effect on her. She's a individual and not afraid of taking a controversial stand if she feels strongly.
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There's nothing "controversial" about spouting whatever mainstream doctrine the megacorps like Nike, Amazon, and Walmart want you to spout.
 
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PETEhammer

Guest
steenkash said:
I liked Mikey Chang, but Osaka has something special, atm I still do thing she is hyped up a lot, and needs to do better at clay and grass to be considered a great, however, surely the best Asian ever?
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Chang had the heart and serious badassery (dude closed the net better than most of the 6'3+ bozos out there today, and more often) but Naomi has that and the body of a potential ATG player. She's 6' tall and can generate great, crisp pace on her strokes without too much windup. She's also mentally tough, and very grounded. I don't know if she will ever reach the heights of Serena/Graf, but I would consider it a tragedy if she didn't at least win 8-10 majors in her career and end as an ATG.
 
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PETEhammer

Guest
Crazy Finn said:
I think this has come up and when asked if she considers herself black or Asian, I think she said yes.

But, this is simply my recollection.
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As in this went down like:
Interviewer: Naomi, do you identify as Black or Asian?
Naomi: Yes

?
 
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dkmura

Professional
ledwix said:
She would be accepted as black in the Caribbean and American in America, but never as Japanese in Japan. That homogeneous nation takes its racial purity seriously. So yes, she highlights the flaws of multiculturalism. Not every culture wants to join in on the fun. There's nothing "controversial" about spouting whatever mainstream doctrine the megacorps like Nike, Amazon, and Walmart want you to spout.
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Some Japanese will recognize her heritage and take pride in her accomplishments. As a Japanese-American, I can clearly understand both sides of this. And as for the "controversial" comment, Osaka's stand on Black Lives Matter wasn't spouted by Yonex, Nike or Nissen. It was purely Naomi's strong feelings and wanting to use her platform for justice that gave her courage to take a stand.
 
aditya123

aditya123

Hall of Fame
Tommy Haas said:
I don't think Osaka considers herself Asian. I think she identifies as black. Japanese is only her nationality, but racially she seems to identify more as being black. Kind of like Tiger Woods. I've never heard him talk about his Asian side.
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This.... So authentically and realistically Lina is the answer.
 
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
srimes said:
If Nishikori and Osaka were to compete, who would win?
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:laughing:
But right now Nishikori is nowhere close to his best. Don't know what's happened to him but his tennis has been very average now and has journeyman like record for last 2 years or so.
 
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Deleted member 22147

Guest
PETEhammer said:
Chang had the heart and serious badassery (dude closed the net better than most of the 6'3+ bozos out there today, and more often) but Naomi has that and the body of a potential ATG player. She's 6' tall and can generate great, crisp pace on her strokes without too much windup. She's also mentally tough, and very grounded. I don't know if she will ever reach the heights of Serena/Graf, but I would consider it a tragedy if she didn't at least win 8-10 majors in her career and end as an ATG.
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She's nowhere near 6' tall.

Naomi Osaka Height

Find out how tall Naomi Osaka is, discover other Celebrity Heights and Vote on how tall you think any Celebrity is!
www.celebheights.com

She's well over listed at 180cm, actually.
 
B

BorgTheGOAT

Legend
Cortana said:
A lot. If you are a waste of air you don't deserve any recognition.
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Recognition or not if you are a best you are the best, if someone wins 50 slams and turns out to be a serial killer he would unfortunately still be the best. Tennis ability does not necessarily goes hand in hand with a good character as one can perfectly see with Serena or BJK.
 
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PETEhammer

Guest
Ocean Drive said:
She's nowhere near 6' tall.

Naomi Osaka Height

Find out how tall Naomi Osaka is, discover other Celebrity Heights and Vote on how tall you think any Celebrity is!
www.celebheights.com

She's well over listed at 180cm, actually.
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Hmm not sure. As always its hard to know with celebs/athletes what their real heights are. Some pics show her clearly taller than Serena, others show her about the same height.
Even if we grant that she's 5'10", that actually helps her case as that's probably prime height for a female player.
 
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