Over the years, women’s tennis has seen many players making bold fashion statements on and off the court. Years back, it was Serena Williams and her elder sister, Venus, who put on eye-catching outfits tournament after tournament. While the Williams sisters are away from tennis now, the tradition was carried forward by Naomi Osaka, who is one of the most fashionable players out there. However, the Japanese star suffered a major fiasco at the French Open recently. Nonetheless, Osaka came back stronger with a bold statement.

Osaka’s first-round match at the 2025 French Open was more talked about for her fashion statement than her performance on the court. She entered the court with Sakura-themed nails while facing Spain’s Paula Badosa. However, with things not going her way, Osaka had to get her nails clipped mid-match. The moment became viral, with many fans slamming Osaka for prioritizing fashion over tennis. Nonetheless, the Japanese star made a strong comeback with her bold take on fashion.

Recently, Osaka appeared on Episode 1 of the Off Day podcast. During the conversation there, she opened up about what fashion is to her. Osaka revealed, “I would say fashion represents me because I do see it as a tool to express myself on and off the court. I don’t think you can ever be wrong in fashion. It’s an extension of how you feel at that moment in time and I don’t know, it’s so individual. I think there’s so many different avenues of fashion. You can kind of almost get anything here.”

Despite making a bright start to her match against Badosa and winning the first set, Osaka lost the momentum mid-match and went down fighting in three sets. Subsequently, Osaka faced massive backlash on social media for her loss and for putting on fashion statements instead of performances on the court.

Nonetheless, Osaka vowed to come back stronger, saying, “As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people.”

In the next major tournament at Wimbledon, Osaka gave a good account of herself before suffering a heartbreaking loss. The Japanese star made a candid confession about not meeting people’s expectations.

Naomi Osaka apologizes to fans after tough Wimbledon loss

The Japanese star entered the Wimbledon Championships on the back of some disappointing performances. Thus, the stakes were high for her at the tournament as she wanted to come back stronger and keep her fans’ faith in her alive. Naomi Osaka began the tournament on a strong footing, having comfortable wins over Talia Gibson and Katerina Siniakova. However, she gave her all against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round but went down fighting in three sets. Subsequently, Osaka was heartbroken and made a saddening admission.

She said, “I’m just gonna be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on. It was my daughter’s birthday. I was happy about that this week. Other than that, today, I’m just constantly replaying the match.”

Nonetheless, Osaka would look to leave the tough Wimbledon loss behind her as she focuses on the US Open swing ahead. She will be seen in action at the Citi DC Open, where she has been handed a wildcard entry into the tournament.