It took months of planning, but Naomi Osaka’s entry for her first match at the Australian Open will go down in tennis history. The Japanese tennis player walked along the walkway to the Rod Laver Arena wearing a navy green and white dress, featuring a veil, a parasol and a gigantic hat adorned with butterflies. Another affirmation of Osaka’s personality, which goes beyond the world of sport and intersects with fashion and popular culture.
The inspiration came from nature and the piece was designed in collaboration with Robert Wun, a designer born in Hong Kong. The butterfly props were a reference to winning the first of two titles at the Australian Open, in 2021, in the third round of which, a butterfly landed in Osaka. “Nike let me design this model, inspired by a jellyfish. I’m very grateful to be able to do what I love. It’s really beautiful, and I’d like to give special thanks to Robert Wun for making it for me”, explained the Japanese, currently 17th in the world rankings, after defeating Croatian Antónia Ruzic (65th), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
“Honestly, everything fell into place perfectly because I didn’t know what to expect when I got here. Suddenly, it seemed like everywhere I looked, the theme was water. Obviously, the entrance was like this, you see oceans and waves. I thought it was really beautiful. An incredible coincidence. What scared me the most was not knowing if the umbrella would fit in the tunnel. I discreetly bumped into some of the small boards, but I think it worked,” said Osaka.
The holder of four Grand Slam titles had already surprised at the 2020 US Open, when she entered the court wearing face masks inscribed with the names of black victims of police violence and racism. And last year, also in the ‘major‘ from the USA, revealed at the end of each match he won, several personalized Labubus in honor of world tennis legends.
Keys and Sinner continue
The current champion, Madison Keys (9th) lost the first four games and saved two set-points no tie-breakbut reacted in time to overcome Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova (92nd), 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
And in the duel between two players currently outside the top 1000, Karolina Pliskova, former number one in the ranking, and Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open champion and coming from qualifyingwon the first, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
Jannik Sinner, winner of the last two editions, was only on the field for 68 minutes, as Hugo Gaston (93rd) withdrew when the world number two was leading, 6-2, 6-1. Lorenzo Musetti (5th), Ben Shelton (7th) and Taylor Fritz (9th) also advanced in the table, unlike the Brazilian João Fonseca, who decided not to compete before the Australian Open and resented the lack of competition against the American Eliot Spizzirri (85th), who won 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and 6-2.
In doubles, Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler, seeded no. 9, made their debut in the tournament, beating the Italian Mattia Bellucci and the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2. In this edition of ‘major‘ Australian, Cabral will compete for the first time in mixed doubles, teaming up with Australian Ellen Perez, 21st in the women’s doubles ranking, and having as her first opponents the Australian Storm Hunter and the Monegasque Hugo Nys.
In the singles, Jaime Faria and Andrey Rublev will open the day at the Margaret Court Arena, the second largest stadium in Melbourne Park, at half past midnight (Portuguese time) on the next morning. Around four hours later, Nuno Borges and Jordan Thompson decide, at the 1573 Arena, who advances to the third round.
