Who says you can’t do both at the same time?
Naomi Osaka is back with a bang at the US Open after a two-year absence and she did so while making a fashion statement, looking every bit like a Harajuku princess.
Osaka’s eye-catching tennis kit was designed in a collaboration between Nike and designer Yoon Ahn, who co-founded the Tokyo label Ambush in 2008 and began collaborating with Nike in 2018.
Upon entering Louis Armstrong Stadium, the 26-year-old tennis superstar made heads turn with her green and white look, featuring a billowing green skirt with white tulle, a white Nike jacket with the black logo embossed near her left shoulder, green wristbands, a coordinated green visor, and Beats headphones with a frilly white adornment and green bows.
As she turned around, the back of her Nike jacket revealed a large green bow. During warm-ups, Osaka detached the green and white tulle skirt, revealing a skirt attached to her tennis dress in the same shade of green with three tiers of ruffles.
The Nike x Ambush sleeveless tennis dress included delicate ruffles near the sleeves, as reported on Women’s Wear Daily. A white band was also featured at the waist for a defined look. The finishing touch of her outfit featured Osaka’s custom Nike sneakers in green and white color ways, which also included small green bows on the back.
Osaka, the 2018 and 2020 US Open champion, also has a black version of the dress for night matches.
Designer Yoon Ahn said on Instagram that Osaka’s look was partially inspired by “Lolita” fashion, taking cues from the innocence and beauty of childhood. “We both are from Japan,” Ahn told WWD on her collaboration with Osaka. “So we wanted to celebrate and connect to a particular subculture style that Japan gave birth to.”
Since becoming a household name and tennis icon in the wake of her first Grand Slam championship at the U.S. Open in 2018, Osaka, who represents Japan, expanded her horizons beyond the realm of tennis and sports. The decorated athlete’s interest in fashion has seen her collaborating with Louis Vuitton, Levi Strauss & Co., and Tag Heuer. She also has a working relationship with Nike, who’s been Osaka’s apparel sponsor since 2019.
Going back to the match, Osaka dominated No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko—a former French Open champion—6-3, 6-2, to advance to the second round. It was her first top 10 win since January 2020, and it came against a player who beat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek before losing to eventual champion Coco Gauff at the US Open last year.
Known for her aggressive playing style with a powerful serve that can reach 201 kilometers per hour, Osaka had nine aces and 19 winners against only five unforced errors. She won 39 of her 50 service points and was not broken. She closed the match out with a sharply angled forehand winner into the open court.
She was on maternity leave last year, and upon her return in 2024, she is 18-15 and is ranked No. 85 in the world, despite only two victories in the year’s previous three Grand Slams. She said her daughter Shai keeps her busy even during the Open, according an an article on Forbes.
Next up for Osaka is world No. 52 Karolína Muchová in the second round on Thursday. If she gets past that match, she could meet former finalist Leylah Fernandez in the third.
