It has been a year of stunning Grand Slam entrances for Naomi Osaka – and the Japanese megastar is hoping that there are six more to come.
Two-time US Open champion Osaka made a grand entrance into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night, paying homage to former NBA star Allen Iverson.
Per Vogue, the entrance piece was a custom Who Decides War gown, designed by Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore, with Osaka styled by Law Roach.
The walk-on kit was a real showstopper. Fashioned from gray French terry, typically seen in sweatshirts, a loose hoody covered in newspaper clippings from Osaka’s career looked very “street”. The relaxed streetwear-inspired top spilled into a flowing white tulle skirt and sweeping train. High marks, indeed.
The on-court kit was an homage to Iverson: a black Nike tennis dress with red accents, combined with red-and-black arm sleeves, a headband and cornrows.
Afterwards, Osaka said: “The inspiration is Allen Iverson. For me he’s a trailblazer. He’s someone that was able to merge culture and sport, and he’s very famous for that. Also, I just really appreciate his style.
“That’s kind of, like, what I tried to embody. Obviously I had a lot of fun with that design process and just coming up with the creative for it. So overall it was cool. I think it fit New York really well, and I’m just excited to continue.”
Osaka went on to navigate a tricky match against Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova, coming out with a 7-6(6),7-6(3) victory to set a second-round match with Katerina Siniakova.
While the fashion was on-point from the start, Osaka knows she’ll need to keep improving as the tournament winds on, if she wants to collect her third US Open trophy.
“I felt like I wasn’t hitting the shots that I wanted to hit. Like my pace was very low. Granted, she was hitting really flat and hard, and I felt like in some moments I could only react,” she said. “I know that there’s a level of my tennis that’s much higher than today, and it was just a little disappointing that I wasn’t able to show that to everybody.”
Why does the USTA and WTA allow this side show to continue? Most tennis fans and spectators come to watch players play. Show their skills and athletic ability with a side order of their style and personality. Granted the players successfully model different brands and get paid to do so. But her actions are just a distraction and attempt to regain attention by being as ridiculous as possible. She still plays well but not at her former level. Let’s hope this doesn’t spread to other players and it probably won’t because they see how foolish it is. Give it up Naomi !!!!