Boris Becker Highlights ‘Contradiction’ Within Naomi Osaka’s Viral Outfit at the Australian Open
Naomi Osaka to face Sorana Cirstea in the second round of the Australian Open.
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Naomi Osaka and Boris Becker (via X/Sky Sports/Sport Bible)
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Tennis legend Boris Becker has claimed that Naomi Osaka’s bold walk-on outfit in the first round of the Australian Open puts her under a lot of pressure in Melbourne. Osaka wore a striking outfit inspired by jellyfish and butterflies before her meeting against World No.65 Antonia Ruzic, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday.
Osaka took to the court with an eye-catching outfit which featured two white butterflies, one on her wide-brimmed hat and one on her umbrella, a reference to when a butterfly landed on her face mid-match during her triumph at the Australian Open in 2021. She paused and removed the butterfly from her left leg in her third round match before blowing it away.
Before Osaka’s opening match, she told Vogue that the inspiration for her outfit came from reading a storybook to her two-year-old Shai. The Japanese also donned a white hat with a veil and had a parasol sling over her shoulder to complete the look. However, her outfit did match her performance on the court as she defeated Ruzic.
She won her first set 6-3, after breaking the World No.65 in two sets. But failed to continue with the momentum as Ruzic came firing all cylinders, forcing the World No.16 to make uncharacteristic mistakes on the court. But, in the deciding set, she rallied back to beat Ruzic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and book her place in the second round.
After the match, Becker highlighted while speaking on TNT Sports via Tennis365 that Osaka has often declared that she doesn’t want to be in the public eye always in her career, but wearing a flashy outfit in a Grand Slam tournament will make it contradictory, as it will only create more pressure for her in Melbourne:
The way she entered the court is already iconic. No other player has dared to wear such an outfit — but she did. But there is also a contradiction: on the one hand, she doesn’t want to be under so much pressure, she doesn’t want to be in the public eye and in the media so much – and then she comes onto centre court in an outfit like that. Of course, that puts her back in the public spotlight. I would point out that she also needed a mental break a few years ago.
Last year, at the four Grand Slam tournaments, Osaka wore flashy outfits that caught fans’ attention. Particularly, at the 2025 US Open, she had a plush Labubu toy in each of her matches, before crashing out in the quarter-finals after losing to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova in three sets.
Naomi Osaka says she’s not afraid to lose at the Australian Open
Naomi Osaka finished the 2025 season on a positive note after reaching the final of the Canadian Open and the semi-finals of the US Open. Her run in the two tournaments saw her get into the top 20 of the WTA rankings. However, at the United Cup ahead of the Australian Open, she won just one match, losing to Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
During her press conference after her first-round win at the Australian Open, Osaka revealed she wasn’t afraid of losing to Antonia Ruzic. The two-time champion claimed that she understood it would be a tough match, but made sure that there was no iota of fear entering the match:
You have aspirations, but there are things you don’t control. I’ve learned that if I have that fear, it usually comes true. Today I kept telling myself: stay your course. If you lose, it’s a shame, but at least you’re trending on social media. Sportingly, I knew it was going to be a tough match. She came with good results, and I expected something like this, a three-set battle.
Osaka will face Sorana Cirstea in the second round at Melbourne Park. The unseeded Romanian star stunned Germany’s Eva Lys in three sets in the first round. Osaka is seeking to win her first tour-level title since returning from maternity leave at the Australian Open and her fifth career Grand Slam.
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