Naomi Osaka lit up Arthur Ashe Stadium long before she struck a ball.
The two-time US Open champion strode into the arena in a hooded tunic that looked more like a moving scrapbook than a pre-match outfit, a sweeping statement from a player who has turned every major this year into her own runway.
The tunic was a collage of her career. Patchwork-style panels were covered in press clippings from past tournament appearances, a visual reminder of the journey that has taken her from teenage sensation to four-time major winner. Behind her, a white tulle train floated in the air-conditioning, trailing drama all the way to her chair.
Osaka has made a habit of this in 2024. At Wimbledon, she nodded to her Japanese roots with a kimono-inspired ensemble, complete with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament, before switching into a regulation white Nike kit for match play. In Paris at Roland Garros, she arrived in a black Kevin Germanier skirt, then took the court in layered yellow, brown and gold, an outfit built to echo the Eiffel Tower’s shimmer after dark. In Australia, her look drew inspiration from a jellyfish, fluid and otherworldly.
New York, though, brings out a different edge. Flushing Meadows is where sport and show intersect, and Osaka leaned fully into it with an Allen Iverson-inspired outfit, her latest tribute to an icon who blurred lines between culture and competition.
"It's my tribute to Iverson," she said of the NBA Hall of Famer. "I really like him a lot. Nike said basketball, so I said, 'You want basketball, I'll give you basketball.' I like expressing myself through clothes, and I'm glad you guys appreciate it."
The performance had to live up to the entrance. For a while, it looked like it might be a breeze.
Facing unseeded Russian Anastasia Zakharova, the world number 101, Osaka burst out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. The 13th seed was striking cleanly, dictating with her first serve, and giving the late-night crowd the kind of authoritative start they had come to expect from a two-time champion in this stadium.
Then the match tightened.
Zakharova settled, began to read Osaka’s patterns, and started swinging freely. The Russian clawed her way back, dragging the set into a tie-break that suddenly felt like a test of Osaka’s match toughness as much as her shot-making.
The pressure finally told in Osaka’s favour. She dug in on the big points, leaned on her serve, and edged the breaker 8-6 to take the set 7-6. It was not smooth, but it was defiant.
Second Set
The second set followed a similar script. Osaka pushed, Zakharova refused to fold. Games stretched, momentum flickered, and what had threatened to be a routine night session turned into a grind that crept toward the early hours.
Again, it came down to nerve.
Osaka, playing her first-round match under the clock that loomed past midnight, held firm in another tie-break, this time closing it out 7-3 to seal a 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3) victory as the time neared 12:30 am local.
"I would say it took everything [to win]," she admitted on court. "I have no idea what time it is. Thanks for staying." The crowd roared back, many of them having arrived for a show and been given a scrap instead.
"I'm grateful to be able to play on this court again," she said. "I just told myself to not have any regrets. I wanted to come out and compete … I was a little rusty. I get nervous in the first rounds. I want to do well and show you guys new outfits."
That blend of vulnerability and bravado has always been part of Osaka’s appeal. She can talk about nerves in one breath and fashion in the next, all while grinding through back-to-back tie-breaks in the stadium where she has twice lifted the trophy, in 2018 and 2020.
Rusty or not, the job is done. Osaka moves into the second round, where Czech player Kateřina Siniaková awaits.
The outfits will keep turning heads in New York. The question now is whether the tennis can start to look as sharp as the wardrobe.
