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Naomi Osaka aced her U.S. Open 2024 tennis kit, showing off the on-court look during her first round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on Tuesday. The four-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the second round of the tournament, defeating number 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
Osaka’s tennis kit was designed in a collaboration between Nike and designer Yoon Ahn, the creative director of Ambush. The outfit featured two variations — upon entering Louis Armstrong Stadium, Osaka wore a 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.
When Osaka turned around, the back of her Nike jacket revealed a dramatic large green bow. During warm-ups for her first round match, 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.
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The Nike x Ambush sleeveless tennis dress included delicate ruffles near the sleeves. A white band was also featured at the waist for a defined look. The finishing touch of her kit featured Osaka’s custom Nike sneakers in green and white color ways, which also included small green bows on the back.
Osaka’s look was partially inspired by “Lolita” fashion, designer Yoon Ahn said on Instagram, which harkens back to “the innocence and beauty of childhood.”
“We both are from Japan,” Ahn told WWD of collaborating with Osaka. “So we wanted to celebrate and connect to a particular subculture style that Japan gave birth to.”
Since skyrocketing to fame following her first Grand Slam championship at the U.S. Open in 2018, Osaka, who represents Japan, expanded her reach beyond the lines of tennis. The decorated athlete’s interest in fashion brought her to collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Levi Strauss & Co., Tag Heuer and a working relationship with Nike, who’s been Osaka’s apparel sponsor since 2019.
The 2024 U.S. Open marks Osaka’s return to the tournament since she gave birth to her daughter, Shai. It also marks a new chapter in the 26-year-old athlete’s life.
“I don’t think I really ever stopped training, or trying to train,” Osaka told WWD, referring to her pregnancy. “My body is so used to it, it’s weird not do it. It’s funny,” she said, adding, “because after I gave birth, the nurse was telling me that I have to call her to use the bathroom. And I was telling her that I’m pretty sure I can just walk on my own. And then I had to demonstrate that I could walk.”
With interest on Osaka’s 2024 U.S. Open journey, the athlete told WWD that, in spite of outside intrigue, she feels completely “at peace.” Osaka will play her second round match against Karolína Muchová of the Czech Republic on Thursday.
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