Naomi Osaka was serving up looks on the U.S. Open court once again.
The tennis star, during her second-round straight-sets 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to Czechia’s Karolina Muchova, wore another custom bow-heavy outfit on Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium in straight sets loss.
After rocking a white and green outfit with plenty of bows in her first-round win against 10th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Tuesday, Osaka went with a white and black look, with a big white bow wrapped around her top and smaller ones on the backs of her shoes.
The Japanese tennis star worked with fashion designer Yoon Ahn to create the day and night outfits for her return to the U.S. Open after taking a 15-month maternity leave.
The custom looks also came with specific walk-in clothes for her matches in Flushing.
“The inspiration that fueled the look for me — and this might be a Japanese term — is feeling like a ‘magical girl’ on the court,” Osaka said in a statement from Nike. “There’s a moment of transformation for me when I walk onto the court, and I have a lot of fun playing, so wanting everyone who sees the outfit to connect with that feeling is a really big motivation for me.”
Before the tournament, Osaka and Yoon told the New York Times that her looks were Japanese subculture-inspired.
“The inspiration for me was definitely Japanese, like Harajuku,” Osaka said. “I remember one of the first times I went to Japan, I saw so many frills and so many bows.”
The road back to the U.S. Open, which she has won twice (2018, 2020), has not been easy for Osaka since her return from maternity leave.
In her match against Muchova, Osaka put up a fight but eventually fell in a second-set tie break, ending her run in Queens.
