In 2014, Naomi Osaka’s family faced eviction while she was still chasing her tennis breakthrough; a year later, she had earned just $6,290 in six months before becoming a four-time Grand Slam champion | International Sports News
Naomi Osaka was 16 when her family received an eviction notice on their Florida condominium. Her professional tennis career was still developing, and her earnings were nowhere near enough to provide financial security. A year later, she had earned just $6,290 during the first six months of 2015, a figure that looks very different against the career she would eventually build.More than a decade later, Osaka has four Grand Slam singles titles, a former world No. 1 ranking and a career that stretches beyond tennis into investments, sports ownership, media and fashion.
The family gamble behind the Stanford breakthrough
Osaka’s professional journey began with her father, Leonard François, who coached Naomi and her older sister Mari. François was inspired by Richard Williams and chose to develop his daughters outside the traditional American junior tennis system. The family had moved from Japan to the United States when Naomi was three and eventually settled in Florida.The financial pressure became particularly difficult in 2014. According to details from Ben Rothenberg’s biography of Osaka reported by Tennis.com, the family received an eviction notice on their Pembroke Pines condominium about a month before Naomi entered qualifying at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. They were given six weeks to leave, at a time when the sisters’ tennis careers had not produced enough income to cover the family’s expenses.The Stanford tournament soon gave Osaka an opportunity to change that picture. The 16-year-old qualified for the main draw and faced Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion and a former world No. 4. Osaka defeated Stosur in three sets, earning $10,000 in prize money and attracting greater attention from sponsors.Her finances were still modest after the breakthrough. According to the same biography details, Osaka earned only $6,290 during the first six months of 2015, while Mari earned $2,160 during the same period. Osaka was still climbing the professional rankings, with the Grand Slam titles and commercial success that would eventually transform her career still ahead of her.
The Grand Slam years changed the scale
Osaka’s rise accelerated in 2018 when she won her first WTA title at Indian Wells. Later that year, she reached the US Open final and defeated Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 to claim her first Grand Slam singles championship.The following January brought another major breakthrough. Osaka defeated Petra Kvitova in the 2019 Australian Open final to win her second consecutive Grand Slam title and became the first Japanese player to reach No. 1 in the WTA rankings. She was 21 years and 104 days old when she reached the top position.Naomi Osaka added another US Open title in 2020 and another Australian Open championship in 2021, taking her Grand Slam total to four. Her success also transformed her commercial profile. Forbes estimated that she earned $37.4 million between June 2019 and June 2020, including $34 million from endorsements and $3.4 million in prize money, making her the highest-paid female athlete on its list for that period.That was a dramatic change from the $6,290 she had earned during the first half of 2015. Osaka had gone from a teenager trying to establish herself on the professional circuit to an athlete whose name carried major commercial value, and she began using that platform to pursue opportunities beyond sponsorships.From endorsements to investments and ownershipOsaka’s business career began taking a different shape as she started investing in companies and taking ownership positions. In 2019, she invested in BodyArmor and received an equity stake in the sports drink company. Coca-Cola acquired the remaining 85% of BodyArmor in 2021 in a deal that valued the company at $5.6 billion.She also moved into sports ownership. In 2021, Osaka became an investor in the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. When the club announced the investment, she spoke about the women who had supported her while she was growing up and connected her decision to opportunities for women in sport.“The women who have invested in me growing up made me who I am today,” Osaka said in the club’s announcement. She also said she wanted to invest in women who could become role models and leaders.Her own ventures added another dimension. Osaka launched KINLÒ in 2021, a skincare and suncare brand developed with melanated skin in mind. In 2022, she and Stuart Duguid launched Hana Kuma, a media company focused on stories and creators from different backgrounds. The company later raised $5 million as it expanded its work across entertainment and culture.Osaka has also invested in other consumer businesses. In 2024, she participated in funding rounds involving companies including Pressed Roots and W, adding more ventures to a portfolio that has continued to grow alongside her tennis career.
A new chapter in 2026
Osaka’s business interests have continued to expand in 2026, with fashion becoming one of her newest areas of focus. In August, she unveiled a prototype for a luxury leather-goods project with designer Mike Cherman at Uncharted’s Fame to Fortune Summit. Osaka described the project as her “biggest dream” outside tennis while explaining how her success in the sport had created opportunities to invest and work with people who could help develop her ideas.Her professional setup also changed at the beginning of the year. Osaka left Evolve, the sports agency she had co-founded with Duguid, at the end of 2025 and returned to IMG for tennis representation in January 2026.On the court, Osaka remains an active professional in 2026, with the WTA listing four Grand Slam titles and a career-high No. 1 ranking. Her return to major competition has added another chapter to a career that has included a rapid rise, a period away from the tour and a return to professional tennis after becoming a mother.The contrast with her early years is difficult to miss. In 2014, her family was dealing with an eviction notice while Osaka was still searching for her first major breakthrough. In the first six months of 2015, she had earned $6,290. Within a few years, her annual earnings were being measured in tens of millions of dollars, while her career expanded into investments, ownership and businesses of her own.In 2026, Osaka is still competing as a Grand Slam champion, but tennis is now only one part of her professional life. Her investments, sports ownership, media work and luxury fashion project show how the platform created by her tennis career has developed into a much broader business career.
