Naomi Osaka has been in the spotlight this summer not for her play on the court, but for her decision to withdraw from the French Open and Wimbledon rather than fulfill standard player media obligations.
That was a huge story at the French Open, when Osaka withdrew mid-tournament. She preemptively withdrew from Wimbledon, too, and there’s no real sign yet what the potential outcome will be.
Today, though, we learned that there’s a docuseries in the works at Netflix from producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter on Osaka’s rise to the top of tennis, and her time at the peak of the sport. We also got a trailer and a release date: it’s coming in just ten days.
Here’s the trailer:
In association with @uninterrupted, Netflix is releasing a three-part docuseries on @naomiosaka.
“Naomi Osaka: Playing By Her Own Rules” will be released July 16th and includes @KingJames and @mavcarter as executive producers.
— Boardroom (@boardroom) July 6, 2021
LeBron tweeted out the trailer as well:
Queen Naomi! ?? https://t.co/8CPvDEKNo6
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 6, 2021
Osaka’s personal story is certainly compelling even before we get to this summer’s situation off the court. Now, though, the idea of a behind-the-scenes series focused on Osaka takes on an entirely new connotation. Obviously Osaka has a lot more control over this particular project than she does, say, at a press conference. But it certainly opens her up to the kind of scrutiny that she’s been trying to avoid, as well.
In any case, the film, from Academy Award nominee Garrett Bradley, will be out soon enough, and we’ll be able to draw our own conclusions then, and there’s a good chance we’ll get more to her side of the story, as well.