Naomi Osaka Reveals Ideology Behind Her Iconic Wimbledon Kimono

Naomi Osaka caused a huge upset at Wimbledon. On Sunday (July 5), the Japanese ace downed World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6(2) in the fourth round to reach her career’s first quarterfinal at SW19.

It was Osaka’s first win over her fellow four-time Grand Slam singles champion after three consecutive defeats this year. They met for the first time in the fourth round of the 2018 US Open, which Osaka won, and later reached the final and lifted the title, also her first Major.

They did not meet until this year’s Indian Wells fourth round, after which they played in the last 16 of the Madrid Open and the French Open. These matches ended in Sabalenka’s favor. Osaka, who now has improved her head-to-head record over Sabalenka to 2-3, once again talked about her outfit at the press conference.

For this Wimbledon, the former World No.1 donned a white kimono, the traditional Japanese dress, inspired by Lucy Liu‘s character in Quentin Tarantino-directed Kill Bill. There’s another ideology behind the kimono, a character from the anime Bleach.

The kimono…we had to get it from Japan… There’s this anime called Bleach. It’s one of my favorites. I don’t want to bore you, but anyway, I feel like I’m channeling a character from that whenever I wear the kimono in that way.

Osaka turned heads with her jellyfish-inspired outfit at the Australian Open. For the French Open, she chose a golden ensemble, inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

Naomi Osaka on the mindset change after her defeat to Iga Swiatek

Naomi Osaka was devastated after her 6-2, 6-1 defeat to Iga Swiatek in the fourth round of the Italian Open, so much so that she shut herself off from everyone for a while. At the press conference after knocking out Aryna Sabalenka, Osaka talked about a shift in her mentality after that defeat to the six-time Grand Slam champion.

The people around me, even for years, tried to help me a lot in that aspect. I think it came after Rome. I lost to Iga very convincingly. I felt like I just shut myself off from everyone. I literally got on a plane and went back home. It wasn’t the most professional thing to do. I didn’t speak to my team. I felt very embarrassed about what I did.

Before this year, the 28-year-old had never progressed past the third round of Wimbledon. Osaka will be playing the quarterfinals of a Major for the first time since the 2025 US Open (reached the semifinals).

After that, I told myself, ‘Hey, I’m getting close to 30, I really have to enjoy the time I have.’ Also, obviously, tennis is very, very important to me, but I have a life outside of that. I have to value tennis in the way I can, which is not giving it too much importance.

Naomi Osaka added

Before arriving at Wimbledon, Osaka reached her career’s first grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open. But she was forced to give the walkover to Karolina Muchova due to injury issues.

Osaka holds a 3-3 head-to-head record over Muchova, who has played three finals this year, winning titles at the Qatar Open and the Bad Homburg Open. The lone defeat that she suffered was at the Stuttgart Open to Elena Rybakina. Muchova, the 2023 French Open finalist, will be playing in the last eight of Wimbledon for the third time in her career.

The winner of Osaka versus Muchova will face Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula in the semifinals. Osaka last won a title at the 2021 Australian Open, and since then, she has played four finals, including last year’s Canadian Open (lost to Victoria Mboko).

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