Osaka dubbed heir to Serena and Venus by TIME magazine

As a friend put it about this particular story, sometimes a narrative can seem to arrive both tardily and prematurely. And so it goes.

TIME magazine has propped up Naomi Osaka on its most recent cover, terming her "The Heir" to Serena Williams' stranglehold on superstardom in women's tennis.

The cover feature by Sean Gregory includes some choice quotes, especially from Osaka (of course) and coach Sascha Bajin (also no shocker). Of the incredulous booing that the audience met Osaka with in Ashe Stadium after she defeated Serena Williams at the US Open, Bajin says, "I wanted to jump everybody in the crowd."

Osaka herself already verbalizes the learnings from that episode, which made for an incredible live-TV moment but dampened her opportunity to properly celebrate her first-ever major title. Won against her idol. Her idol she even penned a grade-school report on years ago.

"In a perfect dream, things would be set exactly the way you would want them," Osaka tells writer Gregory. "But I think it’s more interesting that in real life, things aren’t exactly the way you planned. And there are certain situations that you don’t expect, but they come to you, and I think those situations set up things for further ahead."

This wise-beyond-years perspective will serve her well in approaching the first Grand Slam event since she suffered a shabby ceremony vibe but gained a huge title, a multimillion-dollar paycheck and the respect of everyone under the sun.

Osaka will open her Australian Open opportunity against world No. 80 Magda Linette on Tuesday.

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