Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty; TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty; Anthony Harvey/Getty
When it comes to her pre-game playlist,Naomi Osakais superstitious about her music.
Before defeating her childhood heroSerena Williamson Saturday during theU.S. Open Women’s Finalsand becoming the first-ever Japanese Grand Slam champion, the 20-year-old athlete was listening to her favorite music on repeat.
“I listened toNicki Minaj’snew album[Queen],” Osaka, the daughter of a Haitian-American father and Japanese mother, tells PEOPLE of the artist she chose to listen to during the U.S. Open.
Revealing that she commits to one musician before matches, the 5-foot-11 athlete says she only changes artists if she loses. But then, Osaka, like most music fans, was surprised with an unexpected album release.
“And thenEminemdropped anew album[Kamikaze] so I was switching between those two. I’m genuinely more into hip-hop and rap,” says the Florida-based star, who is the youngest woman in the world’s Top 20 and Japan’s highest-ranked female player in more than a decade.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto/Getty
Weeks before the U.S. Open, Osaka was blastingKendrick Lamar’s music for her debut at the Washington Citi Open. However, Poland’s Magda Linette beat her in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals.
Osaka is also a member of the Bey Hive, eventweeting: “Tell me whyBeyoncédecides to have a concert in Miami at the same time as the US Open. I’m legit gonna cry.”
WATCH: Naomi Osaka Talks U.S. Open Win
Manyother celebrities, includingJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have also made special shout-outs to Osaka and Williams for their performances amid thecontroversydue to the 23-time Grand Slam champion beingfined for three violations, including verbally abusing the chair umpire.
In the wake of thescandalsurrounding her U.S. Open victory, Osaka tells PEOPLE she aims to make the country she represents proud.
“I hope people over [in Japan] are happy, that’s the main thing that I wish,” she says.
source: people.com
