KYODO NEWS - Oct 10, 2019 - 20:20 | Sports, All

Women's world No. 3 Naomi Osaka has begun the process to select Japanese citizenship in order to compete for Japan at next year's Tokyo Olympics, a source familiar with the matter confirmed Thursday.

Osaka, whose parents are from Japan and Haiti, is currently a dual citizen of Japan and the United States, where she grew up. Under Japanese law she needs to decide on one before turning 22 on Wednesday.

The winner of two Grand Slam events, the 2018 U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open, Osaka was ranked No. 1 from Jan. 28 to June 17 and again from Aug. 12 to Aug. 26. She had already announced she wished to play for Japan at Tokyo 2020.

Recently, Osaka has been in strong form, winning the Toray Pan Pacific last month and this month's China Open.

(Naomi Osaka poses with the trophy after winning the China Open)[Getty/Kyodo]

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