On Tuesday, Japan’s Naomi Osaka beat Latvia’s Jeļena Ostapenko in the first round of the US Open.
It’s a big deal for two reasons: Osaka, who is currently ranked No. 88, won against a Top 10 player for the first time in over four years. Ostapenko is ranked No. 10.
Additionally, Osaka, a 2018 and 2020 US Open champion, returned to the New York City tournament after taking last year off. In July 2023, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter with rapper Cordae.
Notably, Osaka is marking her US Open comeback with two matching custom outfits: one for daytime play that she debuted Tuesday and one for nighttime matches. Both are meant to honor her Japanese heritage.
Osaka stepped onto the court in a green competition dress, white jacket, sneakers, and Bose headphones, all adorned with prominent bows. She even practiced in the full look, sans the headphones of course.
The looks are a collaboration between Nike and Japanese designer Yoon Ahn. Osaka opened up about the inspiration for the joyous look in an interview with the New York Times earlier this week.
“The inspiration for me was definitely Japanese, like Harajuku,” she told the publication. “I remember one of the first times I went to Japan, I saw so many frills and so many bows.”
Ahn described the two outfits as “Lolita goth,” a popular Japanese style trend. “They go out and wear pink, frills, bows, lace. It’s about really owning the cutesy-ness and the girly-hood,” she said.
While Osaka doesn’t consider her competition outfits “risky,” noting she grew up on Serena Williams’s groundbreaking competition style, the athlete does see them as akin to a “super-suit” that gives her confidence and can even be “a little intimidating” for her opponent.
“Especially with this outfit. It’s so big, maybe it’ll create a bigger presence,” she said.
As for the color choices, she associates green with “peace and serenity.”
Should Osaka play a night match at the US Open, she’ll debut the black version of her outfit. There’s a reason she picked black.
“For me, black is strength,” she told the publication. “For me, that’s the super-suit color. I feel a little bit like Black Panther.” New York Times debuted photos of Osaka in her black competition outfit, which you can see here.
Naomi will take on Russia’s Karolína Muchová in the second round on Thursday. A match time has not yet been announced.
