Naomi Osaka is headed to the Australian Open final after a decisive victory against her idol Serena Williams, who was going for a record-tying 24th major title.

Osaka beat Williams for her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 U.S. Open, and will face Jennifer Brady on Saturday night for a chance at her fourth. The 23-year-old is often considered Williams’ heir apparent due to her on-court dominance, but she’s following in her footsteps in business, too.

With $34 million in endorsements and $3.4 million in winnings, Osaka was the highest-paid female athlete on Forbes’ 2020 list of top athlete earners. This year, she’s added Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Workday to a list of sponsors that already includes Nike, Beats, Mastercard and several others.

If Osaka wins the Australian Open, she’ll earn another $2.13 million in prize money — or $1.16 million as a runner-up.

Though her portfolio doesn’t yet measure up to the 50-plus companies Williams has invested in through Serena Ventures, Osaka is off to a strong start with equity stakes in Hyperice and BodyArmor.

She also purchased an undisclosed ownership stake in National Women’s Soccer League club, the North Carolina Courage. The move was inspired in part by Serena and her daughter Olympia, who each own a stake in Los Angeles’ new NWSL club, Angel City FC.

“I’ve been seeing this sort of ongoing thing where other athletes are investing in other sports,” said Osaka. “I remember reading in an article that Serena’s daughter invested in a soccer team. I thought that maybe that’s a really good direction to go.”

Lululemon released its first study dedicated to global wellness this week, and only 29% of participants reported having a strong sense of physical, mental and social wellbeing.

“There is little doubt that the challenges of the last year have taken a toll on people’s psyches and underscored the importance of our collective health and wellbeing,” said Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald. “And while many of us often say ‘everything is fine,’ it’s clear that we would all benefit from raising the bar for what it means to truly be well.” 

The survey found that physical activity was the greatest differentiator between people who were coping well with the pandemic and those who were not. Eating healthy food and getting enough sleep were the next most important factors for personal wellbeing.

The survey, which included 10,000 people across 10 countries, found that Gen Z has been especially impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, with teens and young adults in the demographic being the least likely to have taken steps like exercising and spending time outdoors to boost wellness. 

A separate study by insurance company The Standard near the end of last year found that 46% of U.S. workers say they’ve struggled with mental health issues since the pandemic began, up from 39% the year before.

Washington power players are turning their attention to women’s soccer.

Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, and Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former president George W. Bush and Laura Bush, are part of a group investing in National Women’s Soccer League team, the Washington Spirit.

The group also includes former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Dominique Dawes and Spirit assistant coach Briana Scurry — who won two Olympic gold medals and the World Cup as a goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s team.

“Our investor group reflects DC’s political roots, sports legacy, international reach, and thriving business and technology community,” Devin Talbott, an entrepreneur in the group, said in a release. “We share a common vision and committed purpose to elevate women’s soccer.” 

The NWSL’s popularity with investors has grown in recent months.

• Naomi Osaka was announced as an owner of the North Carolina Courage in January.
• Serena Williams, Mia Hamm and actor Natalie Portman are part of the ownership group bringing the new Angel City FC team to Los Angeles. 
• Brittany Matthews, fitness entrepreneur and the fiancee of Patrick Mahomes, is part of the group bringing a NWSL team to Kansas City.

Last year, in the first year of the league’s new broadcast deal with CBS, NWSL viewership grew 500% year-over-year, peaking with a league-record 653,000 viewers for the Challenge Cup final in July.

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Last week, Disney announced impressive growth of its streaming and subscription businesses, which have helped keep the company profitable while it waits to fully reopen its famous amusement parks.

Disney+ got the bulk of attention as it closes in on 100 million subscribers, but the earnings report also showed significant growth for ESPN+, which now has 12.1 million subscribers — almost double the 6.6 million it had a year ago.

The company has sought to grow its subscriber base by placing more of its ESPN.com writers behind the ESPN+ paywall.

ESPN put all of its analytical sports writing behind the ESPN+ paywall in November, which affected 23 high-profile writers such as fantasy football analyst Matthew Berry and NBA writer Zach Lowe.

Many of the company’s writers were already exclusive to ESPN+ after the streaming service absorbed ESPN Insider subscribers in 2018, but the November reorg doubled the amount of ESPN+ exclusive writers.

Similarly, Sports Illustrated — which sold to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million in 2019 — introduced a paywall earlier this month.

In general, paywalls have been posited as a potential savior for media outlets in a volatile industry. A reported 76% of U.S. newspapers had paywalls in 2019, up from 60% two years earlier.