While Osaka's popularity surged after she won her first Grand Slam, she had been growing into a champion long before that. In 2015, she won the Rising Star Invitational Champion award. She had her first win against a top 10 player in 2017, when she beat defending champion Angelique Kerber in the US Open in straight sets. Even in 2014, a then-16-year-old Osaka made waves. In the Stanford tournament's opening round, she defeated 19th-ranked Sam Stosur. Her own ranking at the time? #406 in the world.