'Playing for the pride of the country': Osaka gives up US citizenship to play for Japan at 2020 Olympics

Tennis star Naomi Osaka has decided to give up her US citizenship so that she can represent her home country of Japan at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
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Tennis star Naomi Osaka has decided to give up her US citizenship so that she can represent her home country of Japan at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

The two-time Grand Slam winner has opted to keep her Japanese nationality, as under US and Japanese legislation, a person with more than one citizenship must choose one before they turn 22 years old.

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Osaka, who will be 22 next week, has reportedly completed all the necessary preparations to maintain her Japanese citizenship.

She was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother who moved to the US where the future sports star was raised and began to play tennis.

Xièxiè Beijing ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4Y7KynVXdd

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@Naomi_Osaka_) October 6, 2019

Osaka said she would be honoured to represent Japan at the next Olympics, which will be held in the country of her birth.

"It gives me a special feeling to try to go to the Olympics to represent Japan," she said.

"I think I will be able to put more of my emotion into it by playing for the pride of the country."

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Osaka rose to prominence last year after she managed to beat US tennis legend Serena Williams in the final of the 2018 US Open.

Following her sensational triumph, the Japanese star continued to collect tennis trophies, adding one more Grand Slam to her name by winning the 2019 Australian Open.