Naomi Osaka don do am again. The Japanese tennis star bring another jaw-dropping outfit to French Open, and e don make internet break.
Osaka walk onto Court Suzanne Lenglen for her first-round match against Germany’s Laura Siegemund wearing black corset and pleated skirt wey sweep over the red clay. Underneath, she get custom gold Nike dress wey sparkle like Eiffel Tower at night.
The four-time Grand Slam champion later unzip the corset and remove the outer layers, stopping for photographers before switching to competition mode. The dress get sequins wey catch the Paris sun, and e be design by Kevin Germanier, wey known for sustainable fashion.
During her match, Osaka beat Siegemund 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to reach second round. While she dey play, top seed Aryna Sabalenka dey watch live on TNT Sports and react: “This is brilliant. I love it. I love that she expresses herself and feels confident. That’s the beauty of the fashion world.”
After the match, Osaka joke say she fear say umpire go kick her off court because the dress reflect sun too much. “When I first saw it, I felt like I look like the Eiffel Tower at night time when it’s bright,” she say. “Then I actually got a little worried because when the sun hits the dress, it reflects a lot, so I was a little scared the umpire was going to kick me off the court. I got two back-up, normal dresses – thankfully I didn’t have to wear them.”
Osaka say fashion na way she dey express herself since she no dey talk too much. “I feel like fashion, for me, I tell people, I don’t talk a lot, so that way I can talk through my clothes. That means I can be as loud with colors or patterns or fabric as I want.”
She say she grow up watching Serena and Venus Williams use fashion as part of their Grand Slam presence. “I literally can look at a picture and probably tell you what year that outfit came from.”
Former British number one Annabel Croft say many players “would not be able to live up to the expectation” of walking out in custom outfits like Osaka’s. “If you out there in an extraordinary outfit, you’ve got to live up to that and have the confidence to play in it and give the crowd the tennis as well as the outfit. Naomi can handle it. She really loves it and she’s not fazed by it.”
Since the birth of her daughter Shai in 2023, Osaka don re-establish herself in world top 20. She reach semi-finals at US Open in September. For French Open, she don never pass third round before, last time for 2019. She go face Croatia’s Donna Vekic for next round.
At Australian Open in January, Osaka wear jellyfish-inspired outfit wey she dedicate to her daughter. At Indian Wells, she wear desert-inspired look with tribal-style jewelry. She say she dey try bring back the fun wey tennis lose sometimes.
