Naomi Osaka Is Getting Her Game Back and Tallying Up the Endorsements

Naomi Osaka stands on top of a New York City taxi parked askew in the middle of East 41st Street in Manhattan. It is a sweltering July day and Osaka is shooting a commercial for drugstore makeup brand Maybelline, her bright red lipstick stays put in the 88-degree heat (real feel 93). Her mane of spiral curls is styled in an up-down ‘do. She’s dressed head-to-toe in Nike (her apparel sponsor since 2019 with a deal that pays her more than $10 million annually) and holding a Yonex racket (another sponsor). She executes a series of quick, abbreviated forehands as the photographer shouts encouragement: “Beautiful!” “Nice!”  And since this is the tourist mecca of Bryant Park, a crowd begins to coalesce, a smattering at first, then swelling to a swarm with hundreds of smartphone-wielding onlookers clogging the sidewalk and spilling onto Fifth Avenue. Osaka continues to swing her racket. Turning her left hip slightly toward the camera, she looks out over the sea of people toward the New York Public Library. From her vantage point atop the yellow cab, she has an unobstructed view of Patience and Fortitude, the iconic marble lions that sit watch outside the library. Osaka spent part

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