By Amy-Jo Crowley
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) – Naomi Osaka made her mark on Wimbledon day one with a first-round victory over Elsa Jacquemot after she caught fans’ attention with an eye-catching Japanese-inspired outfit.
The four-time Grand Slam champion walked onto Court 3 in an all-white kimono, the traditional national dress of Japan, paired with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament, before unveiling a white Nike dress.
The kimono, which was decorated with embroidered cranes and cherry blossoms, was created by Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi and covered in “British Vogue” as the tournament opened.
Osaka told reporters after her win that her culture, combined with Wimbledon’s strict dress code, which instructs players to wear almost entirely white attire from the moment they enter the courts, helped inspire the outfit.
“When I think about Wimbledon obviously it’s all white and the oldest tournament. There’s the tradition of it all and in my head when I think about that and I think about my culture, my heritage, which is Japanese and Asian, and then if I dive deeper into Japanese culture I think about the most iconic silhouette, which for me is the kimono,” she said.
“I was thinking about my favourite movies. I love ‘Kill Bill’ and then I remembered absolutely falling in love with Lucy Liu’s character, and she has an all white kimono. I remember thinking that was really cool and amazing.
“It was my interpretation of that and also my respect and love for Japan.”
It was Osaka’s tennis that grabbed all the attention when the match began, however, as she fired 34 winners and won four out of nine break points in the 79-minute mauling of Frenchwoman Jacquemot.
The former world number one, who retired midway through the Bad Homburg final against Karolina Muchova last week, showed no obvious signs of the foot injury that had hampered her.
She takes on Anastasia Gasanova or Emiliana Arango next.
Osaka also turned heads with a jellyfish-inspired outfit at the Australian Open in January this year, and a yellow-brown and gold dress during the French Open.
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley; Editing by Alison Williams)
