Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka gave a shoutout to Frances Tiafoe for showing up during the launch of the Play Academy with Naomi Osaka (PANO) website.Â
In 2020, Osaka launched PANO in Tokyo.Â
Since, PANO has expanded to Los Angeles and Haiti.Â
Tiafoe, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 28 in the world, made his presence felt during the PANO website launch as hhe spoke with the kids, shared advice and opened about some of his experiences.Â
“Big shoutout to Frances Tiafoe for pulling up,” Osaka said.
Osaka explains the goal of PANO
“Play Academy with Naomi Osaka (PANO) is a program I created through a partnership between Nike and Laureus Sport for Good with the goal of changing girls’ lives through play and sport — something that tennis did for me growing up. The program provides grants and capacity building training and speaks to encouraging positive and inclusive play, especially for girls in sport,” Osaka explained.Â
Meanwhile, Osaka is preparing to kick off her clay season.Â
Osaka last played at the Miami Masters, where she reached her first final of the season before losing to Iga Swiatek.Â
Osaka, who was recently ranked at No. 80 in the world, has improved to No. 35 following her Miami run.Â
Osaka, a former world No. 1, revealed after Miami that she targets to return to the world No. 1 .Â
“I think by next year or by the end of this year, I would love to be Top 10,” Osaka said. “By next year I would love to be the No.1. “Oh, that’s a big statement. Erase that. Top 5. You know what? I’m going to set that goal. Top 1, yeah. No.1. “It feels kind of good to chase something, and I think that maybe that’s a feeling that I have been missing, like wanting to strive to do better. For me, it’s cool to see where the level of No.1 is so I can find out if I can reach that.”