LONDON: Court No. 2 is at the end of the All England Club, a few hundred meters from the players. For Naomi Osaka, this just means a long journey. The four-time Grand Slam champion arrived on Wednesday in a minimal kimono-inspired look, paired with obi who followed behind him as he walked.On a day when her tennis was as successful as her fashion, Osaka won the world No. Wimbledon. The 28-year-old Japanese will now bid for a place in the last 16 of the Championships when she faces Australian Daria Kasatkina on Friday.After throwing, Osaka released obi before shedding her floral bomber jacket to reveal an intricately designed plunging, slightly plunging tennis dress. It was the latest chapter in her Wimbledon wardrobe as she arrived at her opening match on Monday in an elaborate kimono decorated with cranes and cherry blossoms.The thing about fashion is that while it can turn heads, it can’t move the board. And more importantly, it creates expectations.In tennis, bold words can be viewed as admirable, and players see it as easy to be brave enough to show off the way they wear it.As Osaka made her way through the crowd during her first match, she heard “something strange” through her ears.The 28-year-old may not be a suspect, but he is not immune to the noise of the locker room and beyond. Any story he chooses to tell through fashion is enhanced by his tennis. Every move is a fashion show until the first ball is hit. After that, the dress disappears and only tennis remains.“I feel a little shaky,” he said. “But I also like to get used to the feeling so it doesn’t bother me anymore. I think the Australian Open was me throwing myself head first with an umbrella and a hat and everything.”The willingness to lean into the show is what sets Osaka apart. American sixth-ranked player Taylor Fritz, who arrived at his first match in a blazer and white pants after his tennis attire, admitted that a player carries such an entrance.Fritz said, “you show up in full clothes and get beat in the first row, you look so stupid.”“I saw his movement. I thought it was really cool,” Osaka said of Fritz.Osaka, whose daughter Shai turns three on Thursday, is of Japanese and Haitian descent and grew up in Florida.On one of his first trips to Japan, 14Th plant — an introvert by nature — was influenced by Harajuku. A vibrant, pedestrian-only district in Tokyo that is synonymous with the city’s youth culture.“In Harajuku I saw everyone expressing themselves through clothes. It was cool and beautiful. This caught my attention and I used it to experiment with fashion,” he said. A few seasons ago in New York, Harajuku’s influences made her top US Open outfits. In January at Melbourne Park, he walked onto the court wearing a big hat under a gray veil and carrying a white parasol, turning the course into a path few athletes have ever attempted.A trip to court may last a minute or so, but for Osaka, that’s where danger, identity, and work begin.
