Naomi Osaka is not one to be afraid of making a bold statement on the tennis court, and the four-time Grand Slam champion has opened up about her leopard-inspired kit in Indian Wells.
Former world No 1 Osaka returned to action in Tennis Paradise on Friday night, with the Japanese beginning her campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 second-round win over qualifier Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.
It was undoubtedly an impressive win for Osaka, who had not been in action since withdrawing from the third round of the Australian Open in January, though it was her outfit that attracted the most attention.
The 2018 Indian Wells champion wore a leopard print-style kit for her match against Jimenez Kasintseva and, speaking in her post-match press conferences, the Japanese discussed her philosophy on what she wore on court.
She said: “I mean, I would definitely say obviously if I wear these outfits, I want to stay in the tournament for a long time, and I do believe in, like: ‘look good, feel good.’
“But I think for me, when I’m developing the kits or designing stuff with Nike, I love telling stories. So when I was a kid, I loved, like, creating sketches and kind of designing the world where that character came from.
“For me, that’s something that I’m really grateful that I can do and that people are interested in. Yeah, I would say it’s fun for me to get through the rounds and be asked questions about it.”
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Osaka has worn a string of eye-catching outfits in recent years, most recently wearing a jellyfish-inspired walk-on outfit and kit at the Australian Open in January.
The Japanese also wore a custom outfit at the US Open last September, and her on-court attire has become a key talking point whenever the four-time Grand Slam champion is in action.
Speaking about her Indian Wells outfit this week, the 28-year-old revealed it was partially inspired by an iconic photo of supermodel Naomi Campbell running with a cheetah.
“So obviously the base of the outfit was leopard print,” added Osaka.
“Then when I was kind of diving deeper into it, we were thinking, okay, leopard in the desert. Then there is that iconic photo of Naomi Campbell running with the cheetah, right?
“I was, like, okay, do I want to tell a story like this, but, like, obviously based on who I am, my leopard is more like a huntress, like I’m hunting something, there is something I want to go get.
“Then we kind of morphed into the story of, like, there is desert, there is dunes, there is a leopard but with the desert, like — crazy, now we’re, like, Mad Max.
“Then we’re like, okay, huntress, hunting, there is a lot of, like, iron (phonetic), there is the story of pursuing something, and then we just kind of built the world in there.”
Osaka is set to return to action on Sunday, where she will face Camila Osorio in the third round.
Should she beat the Colombian, the 16th seed could face world No 1 and fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka.
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