Tennis ace Naomi Osaka tells fans to 'stop creeping her out' by demanding that she 'maintains innocent image'

Japanese two-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka says she is "creeped out" by fans who urge her to "maintain her innocence" in apparent response to social media comments on her being pictured in swimwear.

Osaka took to Twitter to vent her frustrations, telling her more than 5000,000 followers: "I just wanna say it’s creeping me out how many people are commenting @ me to maintain my 'innocent image' and 'don’t try to be someone your not'.

"You don’t know me, I’m 22, I wear swimsuits to the pool. Why do you feel like you can comment on what I can wear?"

The tirade from the US and Australian Open winner appears to be in response to comments from fans after she posted a series images of herself in swimwear and other modeling poses in recent weeks.

Osaka - who boasts more than 1 million Instagram followers - has become the most marketable name in the women's game, netting an estimated $37 million in the last financial year, a record for a female athlete.

Like much of the sporting, the world number 10 has largely been sidelined in recent months due to the suspension of play during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, she can at least prepare for the US Open - a title she won in 2018 - after the tournament was given the greenlight by officials to start at the end of August. 

The rescheduled French Open is expected to follow at Roland-Garros not long after at the end of September.