A meticulous biography that is, in turns, earnest and ardent.

Rothenberg’s book is timed for its subject’s much-anticipated return. He devotes nearly half of this assiduously researched biography to explaining how Osaka’s unorthodox childhood and adolescence set her up paradoxically for fame and floundering in professional tennis. Rothenberg interviewed dozens of people, including Osaka, her family and coaches, to tell this story. The result is a book that is bolder than previous accounts of the star’s sometimes turbulent life.

Includes lots of the play-by-play from her major matches, but it doesn’t seem bogged down by minutiae. Naomi is still young and although Rothenberg ends his book when she gives birth to her daughter Shai in 2023, this is still very much a coming-of-age story. It is tempting to see in Naomi Osaka a multi-ethnic, multi-identity future where individuals are judged on their abilities and accomplishments. But whether such a world can exist outside the ranks of the globalized elite, of which sports stars are a part, remains to be seen..

Moving.

Compassionate if unrevealing.

The attention to detail is admirable, though perhaps too much text is devoted to the progress of individual matches. Because Osaka is only 25, a 450-page book seems a bit excessive at this point in her journey. A solid account of the early stages of an as-yet-unfinished career..