Naomi Osaka stepped onto Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros looking like "the Eiffel Tower at night"—her own words for the shimmering vision she created: a black corset and cascading pleated skirt draped dramatically over red clay, concealing a custom gold sequined tennis dress that caught the Paris sun. The 28-year-old Japanese champion, a four-time Grand Slam winner, has long used her walk-ons at the majors as moments to express something beyond tennis itself. This French Open outfit, designed in collaboration with sustainable fashion creator Kevin Germanier and Nike, was no exception.
Her entrance sparked genuine admiration from fellow competitors. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka, watching live on TNT Sports, called it out immediately: "This is sparkling. I love it. I love that she is expressing herself and feels confident." The moment felt bigger than fashion—it felt like permission. As Sabalenka said, the beauty of the fashion world is that there's space for anything, and Osaka has made her walk-ons into a form of artistic expression that other athletes might shy away from.
The outfit's splendor mattered not just because it was beautiful, but because Osaka backed it with tennis. She defeated Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to advance to the second round, proving what former British number one Annabel Croft articulated on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: walking out in an extraordinary custom outfit demands confidence to perform at that same level. "If you out there in an extraordinary outfit, you've got to live up to that and have the confidence to play in it and give the crowd the tennis as well as the outfit," Croft explained. "Naomi can handle it. She really loves it and she's not fazed by it."
This is part of a larger narrative of Osaka's return. Since giving birth to her daughter Shai in 2023, the former world number one has rebuilt her ranking into the world's top 20. She reached the semi-finals at the US Open last September and continues to make her mark at every major tournament she enters. In January at the Australian Open, she arrived in a jellyfish-inspired outfit dedicated to Shai—each Grand Slam entrance a statement, a story, a connection to her life beyond the court.
When asked about her Eiffel Tower inspiration, Osaka's response was characteristically grounded and playful. "Funny enough, you know the Eiffel Tower at night when its sparkly? I think I look like that a little bit." It's the kind of comment that could feel self-conscious, but instead it felt honest—she saw it, she felt it, she named it. And she wore it with the same confidence she brought to her victory.
Osaka will next face Croatia's Donna Vekic in the second round. But regardless of how far she travels in this tournament, her outfit has already sent a message: Grand Slams remain, for her, the only time she fully inhabits the role of entertainer. Not as a distraction from her tennis, but as an expression made possible by her tennis. The sparkle, the drama, the artistry—it all belongs on court.