For Naomi Osaka, preparations on the eve of this year’s US Open were a little unorthodox.
As well as hitting the practice court and allowing time for rest and recovery, the four-time Grand Slam champion prowled a deserted Billie Jean King National Tennis Center looking for backdrops for a series of glamorous high-fashion photoshoots. Dressed by Hollywood superstar Zendaya's stylist Law Roach, Osaka posted on Arthur Ashe, by concession stands, and, most improbably, in the creaky media workroom.
All of this was building to the ultimate spotlight. As she has done at this year’s Australian Open, Roland-Garros, and Wimbledon, Osaka walked out for her first-round match in a custom ensemble designed for the Grand Slam, this one inspired by basketball legend Allen Iverson and also styled by Law. Although she secured the necessary win, the match wasn’t nearly as memorable as the outfit, a sleeveless hoodie embroidered with burnt press clippings, over a full tulle ballgown skirt.
With her walk-on outfits this season, variously inspired or compared to jellyfish, the Eiffel Tower, Lucy Liu in Kill Bill, and the Japanese art of paper-cutting, Osaka has created a feverish atmosphere around the moment she steps onto court. Loved or loathed, the walk-on outfits have become part of Osaka’s package, as questioned and dissected by the media and online as her forehand - or maybe more.
