Tennis star Naomi Osaka discussed the dynamic between her and rapper Cordae after the two welcomed a baby following speculation they had split in October.
Osaka, who gave birth to daughter, Shai, in July, discussed parenting together and explained why their relationship works in a cover interview with InStyle for its December 2023 Celebration Issue.
“We built a really good foundation,” the 26-year-old Osaka said. “I don’t know if it’s because he’s just an easygoing guy, but I think we just respect each other’s opinions.
“And if we disagree on something, we talk it out. At the end of the day, we both want what’s best for Shai.”
Osaka added that she recently started cooking recipes that Cordae’s mom taught her, including southern-influenced foods, such as mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole.
The former World No. 1 has been dating the musician since 2019.
Osaka stirred breakup buzz when she shared a number of cryptic posts on social media in October — and seemingly removed any trace of Cordae from her Instagram page.
“I just want someone that will watch the sunset with me,” Osaka wrote in a post on X on Oct. 17, according to Page Six.
That followed a separate message shared on Sept. 27, which read: “The art of loving yourself.”
Osaka also reportedly liked a post on X the week prior about “walking away from those that didn’t value you.”
Osaka and Cordae unfollowed each other on social media at the time, according to Page Six.
The couple are following one another on social media as of Thursday.
They never addressed the split rumors.
Osaka discussed motherhood elsewhere in the interview, and explained going through a “huge adjustment period” in the beginning.
“I do remember feeling in that moment, This is the worst pain of my life,” Osaka said of being in labor. “And I know that if I get through this, then everything else will feel very easy.”
She was immediately hooked up to an IV with antibiotics due to an infection she had while pregnant.
Osaka tested positive for Group B streptococcus, “a bacterial infection that an estimated 20 million pregnant women a year carry and can pass onto their babies,” while pregnant.
The tennis star would later learn the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her daughter’s neck.
Osaka gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
In the beginning, “there was a huge adjustment period,” Osaka said.
“It was life-changing in a day,” she said. “From the moment that you come back home from the hospital, everything’s different.”
Osaka also wrote a will before going into labor with her first child, which made her feel “uneasy.”
The new mom is looking forward to returning to tennis after maternity leave.
Osaka — whose coach, Wim Fissette, said she started training again in October — is returning for a tournament in Brisbane at the end of the this year ahead of the Australian Open, which she has already won twice.
The four-time Grand Slam champion said she wants to take home a gold medal for Japan in the 2024 Olympics after losing in the third round of the Tokyo games in 2020.
