Naomi Osaka stressed the importance of feeling good in her tennis outfits after reaching the second round of the US Open.
The Japanese player claimed her first win at the US Open since 2021 with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 win over Jelena Ostapenko.
This was a contest which both players went into struggling for form having both had a challenging North American summer hard-court swing.
But in a battle between two of the WTA’s most powerful and aggressive players, it was the former World number one who was left in tears after coming out on top.
What did Naomi Osaka say about her US Open tennis outfit?
Naomi Osaka was very excited to reveal her outfit for the US Open and when she stepped onto the court, she certainly stood out.
The four-time Grand Slam champion wore a lime green top with a huge bow attached to a white jacket and a smaller green one in her hair, along with a green skirt with frills.
Even Osaka’s trainers had bows on and she told reporters in her post-match press conference after her victory that a fellow player asked to take a picture with her in the outfit, and it gives her confidence.
“I feel like being able to be a part of my tennis outfits gives me a different strength, especially the US Open outfits, I feel like they are a little bit more flamboyant,” she said.
“When I put on my outfit today I was like ‘ah, I hope this isn’t too much’ because I had the tu tu and then the bow jacket and it was green and I felt like everyone was staring at me.
“Then I put the headphones on, that was the real killer! But then I said ‘embrace this style’ and then it made me feel better as another player came up and asked to take a picture, so I hope it was like a positive picture and not like ‘Oh my God, look at her’. So for me when I put on an outfit it’s almost like a super suit.”
Naomi Osaka secures first top 10 for over four years at the US Open
Osaka had previously spoken of her desire to arrive at the US Open in good form, which she hoped to build over the North American hard-court swing.
But after an early Canadian Open exit and failing to qualify for the main draw in Cincinnati, Osaka had little time to find her form.
But she produced an excellent performance against Ostapenko at Flushing Meadows, where she hit 19 winners to just five unforced errors.
In the process she won her first match against a top 10 player since 2020 and she is into the US Open second round to face Karolina Muchová.
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