Over the years, tennis has had its share of noteworthy fashion moments. And Osaka added another in Melbourne
Naomi Osaka’s renowned 125mph serve is positively slow compared to the jellyfish’s sting, which can cover 10 to 20 micrometres in less than one-millionth of a second. But it wasn’t just the invertebrate’s speed that the tennis player was calling on when she wore a jellyfish-inspired outfit to face Antonia Ruzic of Croatia in their first-round match at the Australian Open.
Entering Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, the 28-year-old tennis player’s look consisted of a pleated miniskirt over wide-legged trousers, a wide-brimmed hat with a white veil and a parasol. Jellyfish-esque elements were also incorporated into her on-court outfit, which featured a watery turquoise and green palette and soft frills on the warm-up jacket and dress, alluding to tentacles.
As Osaka told Vogue before the match, which she went on to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, the inspiration came when she was reading a storybook to her two-year-old daughter, Shai: “Reading to my daughter, discovering beauty in unexpected places like the underwater world, working with artists who care about meaning – those moments have all shaped the way I see this expression now.”
