Naomi Osaka admits she’s nervous training for Australian Open (because, yes, that’s happening)

Louis Vuitton's newest ambassador breaks down 24 hours of training and avocado toast.
January 15, 2021 9:00 a.m. EST
Vogue Vogue

Just on the heels of her gracing the cover of the January issue of Vogue, and also announcing her brand ambassadorship for Louis Vuitton, there is no stopping tennis champ Naomi Osaka as she trains for the Australian Open. Vogue followed her for 24 hours to get a sense of what a day in the life of a two-time US Open women’s singles final champ is like, and also how the highest earning female athlete ever spends her hours. Turns out, just like most of us, she loves her avocado toast.

First thing in the morning, a very sweet and mild-mannered Naomi tells the camera crew following her that she likes slathering the avocado, salmon and capers over focaccia bread. But don’t mistake her soft-spoken nature for weakness, because we quickly see her practicing her epic serves on the court, and she goes into full beast mode.

After racing around the court like a force to be reckoned with, there’s no rest for the wicked, because then she hits the gym with her trainer for a full session, and then gets some physiotherapy treatment to take care of her joints, bones, and muscles. These jam packed days focussing on her body are all necessities if she’s to slay every dragon on the tennis court at the Australian Open, which has already begun and runs until February 22nd

“Right now I'm excited,” she admits when asked if she’s nervous for the big event that was filmed before the Australian Open began, “because I'm training for it currently but maybe when I'm playing my first round, I'll be a little bit nervous. I'll probably be nervous when I get there. Maybe I'm not so sure. Usually I'm very excited for Grand Slams. But if I was nervous I would tell myself that everyone's nervous. I don't think there's a player that isn't nervous going into a Grand Slam."

If you're a little puzzled over the idea of the Australian Open moving forward at this time, yes, the tournament is happening and players are sent directly into quarantine as soon as they arrive in the country. Australia has lowered their COVID-19 cases drastically, and as of January 14, there were an average of 16 new cases reported each day in the past week with an approximate total of 275 active cases. It was just announced Thursday that tennis star Andy Murray tested positive ahead of his departure from Britain and won't be making the trip to Australia.

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Naomi capped off her 24 hours by celebrating her natural beauty in a photoshoot for Levi’s. As we see her flaunting her gorgeous natural hair, she gets her makeup done and then poses for a variety of shots for the jeans brand.

“I'm very happy with how it went,” she says afterward. “It was really pretty. And it's my first shoot with them.”

Maybe this is her first collab with Levi’s, but she is no stranger to the fashion world. On top of her Louis Vuitton brand ambassador gig announced earlier this week, she has also previously joined forces with Strathberry to release her own line of limited-edition handbags. She even collab’d with Japanese label ADEAM for NY Fashion Week and of course has her own killer Nike collection.

Vogue, please do 73 Questions with her next!

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