There was no way Naomi Osaka was going to dial it down. Striding on to court before her second-round match at the French Open, she gave a small wave and served up another big entrance.
If the black cascading gown she sported prior to her opening-round win against Laura Siegemund was too much for tennis purists, her light-coloured train attached to her gleaming outfit was surely too little. Still, the cameras clicked and Osaka took ownership of another bold appearance on the red clay.
The four-time Grand Slam champion will continue courting criticism for these not-so-subtle outfits. Yet the notion that she is rubbing her wealth in the noses of lower-ranked players with attention-seeking ploys is misguided and misplaced. In a sport wedded to tradition, and where there is a glaring disparity between the haves and have-nots, this is a woman savvily elevating pre-match entertainment and her own on-court presence to a new level.
After Osaka’s well-documented struggles in the early part of her career, when she normalised vulnerability around mental health, it is refreshing to see the mother-of-one use her platform in such an illuminating way. Why can’t a strong, athletic woman at the top of her game feel confident enough to channel her inner fashionista on the biggest stage?
Long gone are the days when athletes are solely representatives of their sports. In this click-heavy age of social media, they are brands, activists and personalities in their own right and a growing crop of women are cottoning on to this. “Grand slam walk-ons are the only time that I possibly feel like I’m an entertainer,” mused Osaka after her opening-round win in the French capital, in which she sported a glittering dress inspired by the Eiffel Tower at night.