There has been a lot written about what Naomi Osaka deserved during her first grand slam win. She did not deserve to have her moment at the US Open overshadowed by an umpire’s ego or by factors beyond her control that have nothing to do with the talent she displayed on that court. 

Naomi Osaka, like Serena Williams, deserved better. The one post-win moment Naomi did merit was when she was sobbing tears of disappointment, joy, relief, frustration - or whatever range of emotions those tears displayed - her idol was holding her up and getting the crowd to cheer for her. At 20 years old, Naomi Osaka is living out her dreams and while her winning moment may not have gone exactly as she hoped, she deserves to be treated like the champion that she is. 

Champions go on The Ellen Degeneres Show to get showered in praise and get some free sh-t. During Naomi’s appearance on Ellen, she got her free sh-t (a new TV for her parents) and she got showered in praise. You can tell Naomi isn’t the most comfortable in front of the cameras yet but she’s still adorable. Naomi was at her most adorable when Ellen asks about her celebrity crush. She says, “I don’t know his name but he was in Black Panther, he was the villain.” If I didn’t trust that Naomi Osaka has been in a training hole for the past several years, I would not believe that she didn’t know my Michael Bae Jordan’s name. For now, she’s forgiven. At least we know she has great taste in crushes. 

Watch Ellen mortify Naomi when she sends a selfie of them to MBJ. 

This is the CUTEST. Of course, since he is considerate, kind and perfect, Michael B Jordan responded.

Goddamn, he is handsome.

Normally, I would not be OK with Michael Bae Jordan sending selfie videos to another woman but picturing how much Naomi Osaka must have DIED when she saw this makes up for the fact that she’s coming for my man. 

In the coming years, we’re going to get a lot more adorable moments from Naomi Osaka. But since she is a half Haitian, half Japanese woman playing the sport of tennis, we know that she’s also going to have more disappointing and frustrating moments like the one she faced last weekend. Naomi Osaka got a cruel glimpse of what it’s like to be a great black woman in tennis during her US Open win. After the win, she’s gotten her first taste of celebrity. Does the good outweigh the bad? Is she ready for the highs and the lows? I hope she is. In all of her future low moments, she can always refer back to the time “the villain from Black Panther” took off his sunglasses mid-video so he could give her the respect she deserves.