{"id":420137,"date":"2026-01-21T04:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420137\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T04:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:53:11","slug":"naomi-osaka-makes-grand-entrance-and-big-fashion-statement-at-australian-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420137\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka makes grand entrance and big fashion statement at Australian Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne, Australia
\n AP
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n A statement of confidence as much as style, Naomi Osaka walked onto one of the biggest stages in tennis wearing a wide-brim hat, a veil and holding a white parasol in a bold opening act at the Australian Open.\n <\/p>\n

\n Aware that such an iconic walk-on could backfire if she lost her first-round match, Osaka did everything she needed Tuesday to bring down the curtain on Day 3 at Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Antonia Ruzic.\n <\/p>\n

\n The hat and umbrella were adorned with symbolic butterflies, a nod to one of the memorable moments of Osaka\u2019s last title run at Melbourne Park in 2021 rather than a reflection of the usual first-round jitters at a major tournament.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen I was playing today, I just told myself, like, \u2018Keep your head on the path. If she beats you, then that\u2019s unfortunate. But, hey, at least you\u2019re trending,\u2019\u201d on social media, she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Osaka has won four Grand Slam singles titles, including two at the U.S. Open and two in Australia in 2019 and 2021.\n <\/p>\n

\n She next plays Sorana Cirstea, who beat Eva Lys 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. After reaching the U.S. Open semifinals last year \u2014 her best result at a Grand Slam event in four years \u2014 Osaka is growing in confidence.\n <\/p>\n

\"Osaka<\/p>\n

\n Born in Japan but growing up in America, Osaka was inspired by Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, the tennis stars she described as the \u201cG.O.A.T\u2019s of style.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think it all comes down to personality, too,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The dress she wore in her first-round match, in shades of blue and green, was also a tribute to her daughter, Shai, and her fascination with jellyfish.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo, the inspiration was obviously the jellyfish, then butterflies, which kind of ties back to the butterfly moment I had here a long time ago, in 2021,\u201d Osaka said, recalling the images of one landing on her during a third-round match.\n <\/p>\n

\n Osaka said to her clothing sponsor, Nike, \u201clet me design this one.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Related video: How Robert Wun, co-designer of Osaka dress, upends luxury fashion’s expectations.\n <\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Related video: How Robert Wun, co-designer of Osaka dress, upends luxury fashion’s expectations.<\/p>\n

3:57 <\/p>\n

\n It took months of planning. And it all tied in with the remodeled player tunnel at Rod Laver Arena that reflects Australian themes such as beaches and the coast.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHonestly it came together quite beautifully because I didn\u2019t know what to expect when I arrived here,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cThen it just felt like everywhere I looked the theme was water. Obviously the walkout was like you see oceans and waves. I thought that it was really beautiful. Really amazing coincidence.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne, Australia AP \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 A statement of confidence as much as style, Naomi Osaka walked onto one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-420137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}