{"id":118051,"date":"2025-09-04T00:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118051\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T00:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:46:08","slug":"tennis-star-naomi-osaka-brings-her-labubus-to-u-s-open-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118051\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis star Naomi Osaka brings her Labubus to U.S. Open | story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        Glittery Labubus named after tennis players<\/p>\n<p>During a tennis match, most fans keep their eyes on the ball as players whiz it back and forth with their rackets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But at this year\u2019s U.S. open, tennis balls aren\u2019t the only things pulling focus.<\/p>\n<p>This week, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka played each of her games at the tournament while sporting glittery Labubus on her racket bag.<\/p>\n<p>She said the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/kidsnews\/post\/labubu-mania-these-little-fluffy-monsters-are-going-viral-worldwide\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Labubus<\/a> \u2014 which represent past tennis players \u2014 started out as a joke, but she\u2019s glad people are enjoying the spectacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I&#8217;m not a Labubu collector,\u201d\u00a0Osaka said in a press conference.\u00a0\u201cThis is kind of like a one-time thing for the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Osaka\u2019s 4 Labubu tributes\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Osaka named one of the Labubus Arthur Flash after Arthur Ashe, a pioneer in the sport of tennis as the only Black man to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A second Labubu was nicknamed Billie Jean Bling after tennis legend Billie Jean King.<\/p>\n<p>King is an American former world No. 1 tennis player who won 39 grand slam titles.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two crystal-incrusted labubus. \" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/photo_1_Naomi_Osaka_Labubu_Tennis.png\" style=\"width: 860px; height: 484px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Osaka\u2019s Arthur Flash Labubu, left, and Billie Jean Bling Labubu, right, were mementos to past players. (Image credits: Naomi Osaka\/Instagram)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Osaka named a third Labubu Althea Glitterson after Althea Gibson, a tennis champion who broke the sport\u2019s colour barrier, becoming the first Black woman to win a grand slam event in 1956.<\/p>\n<p>Osaka\u2019s fourth and final Labubu also honoured Billie Jean King, but with a twist \u2014 it had her signature big glasses on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two crystal-like labubus.\u00a0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/photo_2_Naomi_Osaka_Labubu_Tennis.png\" style=\"width: 860px; height: 484px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Osaka\u2019s Althea Glitterson Labubbu, left, and another Labubu representing Billie Jean King. (Image credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth\/The Associated Press, Naomi Osaka\/Instagram)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s next for Osaka?<\/p>\n<p>On Sept. 3, Osaka will play on in the U.S. Open, competing in the semifinals against Czechia\u2019s Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1.<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell if the Labubus continue to bring Osaka good luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\ufeff\ufeffHave more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we&#8217;re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>With files from The Associated Press, Reuters\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glittery Labubus named after tennis players During a tennis match, most fans keep their eyes on the ball&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-118051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}