Naomi Osaka is heading to Stuttgart in Germany to maintain her no. 1 ranking in the world as a woman tennis player, carving her way through the field of WTA opponents intent on dethroning her, our champion as she seeks to regain form after a small hiccup in Miami when she lost in the third round. Naomi needs to regroup and use her precise ground strokes and power from the base line to assert herself on the clay courts of Europe to keep her ranking and develop her game to another level. We would like for her to come to the net more often and develop her volleys so that her game would be a combination of power and shot making, reminiscent of Serena with deft volleys keeping her opponents off balance – sort of like Justine Henin used to. With a powerful serve she possesses all the tools for a long run as one of the top players. Go Naomi and make us Haitians proud.
We Haitians need to show more support and get behind our champion, unless we want Japan to overshadow her natural affinity to her Haitian cultural heritage. Naomi grew up with her Haitian Grand Parents along with her Mom and Dad, so she ate Rice and beans, Vegetable Porridge (Legim Ayisien) and Griots. I am sure she likes Konpa and knows how to dance, so she is one of us, playing tennis on the highest stage and kicking butt. I want to stay clean so that our young teenage girls can read this and reach for the stars like Naomi is doing now. She is heading into an important part of the season which leads to Roland Garros in France, the next Grand Slam tournament which will make it three straight slams for Naomi, God willing. So she needs all our support, especially from Haitian press outlets. It was a disappointment when none of the media in Miami showed up during the Premier tournament Here in South Florida to report on her participation. There are a few Haitian media outfits in the Miami- West Palm Beach axis and it would have made our champion happy to see her people come report about her in the community. We need to realize that soccer is not the only sport in the world, especially for women of Haitian descent who need to get behind this heroine in all sense of the term.
In Haiti, the press must get behind Naomi Osaka our adopted daughter and report on her exploits. Young girls living in Haiti can realize that it is not a shame to live in Haiti, despite all the attempts by the international media to portray Haiti as hell on earth. This is done to make us forget that we are the sons and daughters of Toussaint, Dessaline and Petion who kicked butts, although such a long time ago before the advent of slithering serpents who are leading our country to disaster following orders from their masters. There are enough misguided Haitians who will echo their ignorance blithely, denigrating our culture. We will continue to feature and follow our champion because she hits the ball so well with a powerful forehand down the line, a clean winner. It took years of practice and tournament play at all levels for her to reach that level. A positive light helping us remember what we can do with will and perseverance.
Of course we must do a little bit of gossip to make this column interesting. Naomi Osaka has just signed a mega contract, that’s millions of dollars for you’se that don’t know, with Nike to wear and use their product – My son is a Nike fan who only wears jackets with the swoosh – and she also received a Time award this past month. She is on her way to Europe with her Dad and her coach to compete in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome on her way to Paris and the French. So far we have not heard about a Beau in her life. Is she so focused on Tennis she does not have a special guy in her life? Come on Naomi you need to let your team of fans know what’s up.
Well that was enough for a good laugh. If Naomi can win The French Open and Wimbledon she will have accomplished the non Calendar year Grand Slam that very few have done before – only two women, Serena Williams and Steffi Graff. So we are tuned to and exciting tennis season with Naomi Osaka the no. 1 player in the world as our champion.
Dèyè Mon 