Naomi Osaka's boyfriend Cordae celebrates her impressive performances at Indian Wells as 'GOAT' reaches 3R

Naomi Osaka's boyfriend Cordae showered praises on the former World No. 1 after her impressive showings at Indian Wells, where she notched the biggest win since coming back from maternity break in 2024.

Osaka, who won the WTA 1000 tournament in 2018, entered the main draw this year via protected ranking. She began her campaign against qualifier Sara Errani on March 8 and looked impeccable to win the contest 6-3, 6-1.

The Japanese then faced No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. Osaka broke Samsonova's serve four times throughout the match to register the biggest win by ranking since returning to the tour after more than a year away in January 2024. The four-time Grand Slam champion defeated Samsonova 7-5, 6-3 to move into the third round.

Naomi Osaka's boyfriend, American rapper Cordae, was ecstatic to see her impressive performance in Indian Wells and took to Instagram to celebrate her victories.

Cordae posted a picture of Osaka during her match against Errani, alongside goat emojis, dubbing her the 'Greatest Of All Time.'

Screengrab from Instagram

Naomi Osaka and Cordae have been together since 2019 and often take to social media to showcase their affection. The couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Shai, in July 2023.

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Naomi Osaka to face Elise Mertens in Indian Wells 3R

Naomi Osaka pictured at BNP Paribas Open

Naomi Osaka will face another seeded opponent in the form of No. 24 seed Elise Mertens in the third round of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open on March 12. Mertens defeated Wang Xinyu in the previous round.

This will be the sixth meeting between Osaka and Mertens on the WTA Tour. The Japanese leads their head-to-head 3-1. She defeated Mertens at the 2019 Japan Open, 2020 Western & Southern Open, and 2021 Miami Open. Meanwhile, the Belgian registered wins at the 2017 Wuhan Open and 2021 Gippsland Trophy (via walkover).

Osaka returned to the WTA Tour after more than a year away. She marked her comeback at the Brisbane International and won her opening-round match against Tamara Korpatsch. This was followed by an early exit at the Australian Open and the Abu Dhabi Open.

The 26-year-old regrouped at the Qatar Open, where she won consecutive matches for the first time since coming back. Osaka bettered Caroline Garcia and Petra Martic and received a walkover victory against Lesia Tsurenko before losing to Karolina Pliskova in the semifinal.