Japanese star Naomi Osaka has called 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams the “greatest force” in tennis history as the American prepares to retire from the world of yellow football at the US Open.

Osaka, who denied Serena the opportunity to equal Australian Grand Slam record holder Margaret Court when she lost to her in the 2019 Flushing Meadows final, said the news of the American’s retirement left her in tears.

The four-time big winner, who is of mixed descent from a Japanese mother and a Haitian American father, added that Williams paved the way for minorities.

“I think her legacy is really so vast that you can’t even describe it in words,” she said Saturday on the sidelines of the latest Grand Slam, which kicks off on Monday.

“It changed the sport a lot. I brought people into the sport who had never heard of tennis. I think that I am a product of what I have made. I wouldn’t be here without Serena, Venus and her entire family.” I am so grateful to her.”

“I sincerely believe that this is the biggest force in the sport. I’m not intentionally trying to underestimate (Roger) Federer or (Rafael) Nadal. I just think it’s the most important thing that has ever happened in this sport.”

Osaka said she had a feeling that Williams was planning to retire even before she officially announced it in a Vogue article earlier this month.

She explained, “It was really weird. I watched her first match in Toronto before it was even announced. cried, and then announced it the next day.”

Osaka said that Williams inspired a new generation of black tennis players: “For me, that’s the most obvious part. But if you look at every person with our skin color, it becomes clear that we have followed in her footsteps.”