--- description: Find out why Naomi Osaka is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Naomi Osaka: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5075d243c14af0b7/698a1cb409208f3eeb418419/naomi-osaka-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Naomi Osaka by Russell Wilson  Jerry Lai—USA TODAY Sports/Reuters Naomi Osaka’s humility and dedication to others has been spectacular to watch. It’s incredibly meaningful that she has been able to talk honestly about struggling with her [mental health](https://time.com/6053239/naomi-osaka-mental-health/ "undefined") and share with us her vulnerability. She’s been able to say to the world: Hey, listen, I’m going through something. [Here’s my truth](https://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined"). In doing that, she’s serving others—just as she has before. After the death of George Floyd in May 2020, Naomi participated in protests in Minneapolis; during last year’s U.S. Open—which she ultimately won—Naomi wore [masks](https://time.com/5888072/sports-style-protest/ "undefined") honoring seven Black Americans killed in recent years, including Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor. She shows you can be among the best in the world at what you do, and still fight for justice and be open about the challenges you face. We all have the capacity to make a difference. But sometimes, someone’s sphere of influence is so great, they can change a culture, change a society, change a whole world. Naomi Osaka has the power to do that. _Wilson is an NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/"},"headline":"Naomi Osaka","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:19:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:32.764Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5075d243c14af0b7/698a1cb409208f3eeb418419/naomi-osaka-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5075d243c14af0b7/698a1cb409208f3eeb418419/naomi-osaka-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/","name":"Naomi Osaka"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | See Everyone on the 2021 TIME100 List","description":"See every 2021 TIME100 Honoree in One Minute","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZgB6AGK2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-09-15T10:45:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZgB6AGK2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/","duration":"PT57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096094/naomi-osaka-tennis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```