Naomi Osaka Is Getting A Netflix Docuseries
Watch the first trailer for Naomi Osaka, which premieres on July 16.
Naomi Osaka is swinging into our Netflix queues.
The tennis champion will debut a three-part documentary series about her life and meteoric rise on the streaming platform later this month. Directed by Oscar nominee Garrett Bradley (Time), Naomi Osaka will focus on the titular athlete's journey, highlighting themes of "life's purpose, about personal worth, about the courage that it takes to allow one's personal values to inform their work and vice versa," the filmmaker said in a statement.
Bradley added, "More than anything, I’d hope people can feel the power of empathy and to feel encouraged to take chances in life, perhaps especially in moments where the stakes can feel impossibly high."
The series arrives in the aftermath of Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open in May and from Wimbledon in June to focus on her mental health. While the star is expected to return to the court for the Olympics later this year, fans will get a chance to see her sooner with the release of this new show. Here's what we know so far.
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Naomi Osaka premieres July 16.
Keep an eye out next Friday for three 40-minute episodes of the docuseries. Watch the initial trailer above.
Executive producers include LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter, Bradley herself, and more.
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It touches on fame, heritage, activism, and more.
In a statement about her self-titled series, Osaka said, "I feel like the platform that I have right now is something that I used to take for granted, and for me I feel like I should be using it for something. I believe, instead of following, you have to make your own path."
The series follows the athlete over a two-year journey as she cemented her status as one of the world's best tennis players and also began to use her voice on and off the court (such as when she wore masks honoring Black lives lost to police brutality and violent acts of racism).
From the looks of the trailer, the show is also set to explore Osaka's Haitian and Japanese background as well as her family life. "Whenever I'm in hard situations, [my dad has] always told me my ancestors were on the ship for, like, 40 days," she says in the preview. "I use that as strength."
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.
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