(Picture credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty Picture)
It is the top of August in New York Metropolis, which may solely imply one factor: the U.S. Open has fully taken over. This yr particularly, it appears like all anybody’s speaking about or truly doing is attending the famend tennis event positioned in Flushing, Queens on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Heart. It is the most well liked ticket of the summer season, and when you’re fortunate and get to go, there’s an opportunity you will additionally bear witness to considered one of tennis’s greatest (and best-dressed) stars, Naomi Osaka, enjoying on the stadium’s onerous courts. Osaka is a prime draw of the event, each as a result of she’s a two-time champion of the U.S. Open—she received it in 2018 and 2020—and her court docket model by no means disappoints.
As an envoy for each Nike and Tag Heuer, the 26-year-old sensation is at all times outfitted in the perfect match-day matches, particularly when she performs on the U.S. Open, which she informed Who What Put on was her favourite slam to decorate for. We caught up with the four-time Grand Slam winner forward of the event at Tag Heuer’s Fifth Avenue flagship retailer to speak all about her signature court docket model, what makes the U.S. Open particular, what watch she’ll be enjoying in, and extra. Learn all about it under.
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What makes the U.S. Open particular for you in comparison with different Grand Slam tournaments?
Osaka: “I grew up right here till I used to be 9, so I’ve plenty of recollections of coming to the event. It was additionally the primary Grand Slam that I received, so simply plenty of actually good recollections.”
Which slam is essentially the most enjoyable to decorate for?
Osaka: “The U.S. Open. I feel Nike at all times lets me do one thing cool in the course of the U.S. Open, and I simply have recollections of watching gamers, particularly Serena [Williams], taking her jacket off and [revealing] one thing unbelievable beneath.”
Naomi Osaka in the course of the Ladies’s Singles First Spherical match on the 2024 U.S. Open
(Picture credit score: Mike Stobe/Getty Photos)
As we method the U.S. Open, what are you able to inform me in regards to the appears you are planning to put on this yr?
Osaka: “I can say that it’ll be considered one of my favourite outfits I’ve ever worn if not my favourite. And the method of making the outfit was actually enjoyable.”
How concerned are you in that course of?
Osaka: “I am truly very concerned. I like having the ability to get artistic, see every part that goes on, and decide materials and decide colours.”
You have had some fairly unbelievable court docket appears via the years, from the customized Sacai x Nike look from the 2019 U.S. Open to this yr’s ruffled Nike set for Wimbledon. What do you’re keen on about combining your craft on the court docket together with your curiosity in trend?
Osaka: “I like the truth that nothing feels restricted—it virtually appears like something is feasible. And I feel with sport, it ought to really feel like something is feasible. Exploring the boundaries and pushing them for me is at all times considered one of my greatest targets.”
Naomi Osaka within the Ladies’s Singles Closing match on the 2021 Australian Open
(Picture credit score: Quinn Rooney/Getty Photos)
Naomi Osaka in the course of the Ladie’s Singles first spherical match at Wimbledon in 2024
(Picture credit score: Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Photos)
Stroll me via a few of your favourite trend moments from on the court docket.
Osaka: “Folks do not actually discuss it, however the 2021 Australian Open. It was my first time carrying a jumpsuit after which a skirt over it, and it was a cool military print that was [all] totally different colours. I had plenty of enjoyable carrying that one. The [custom Nike x] Sacai outfit goes to go down in my corridor of fame of favourite outfits. After which truly a U.S. Open outfit from the final time I performed right here. It was lavender purple and I assumed it was actually stunning.”
Naomi Osaka in the course of the Ladies’s Singles third spherical match on the 2019 U.S. Open
(Picture credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty Picture)
What watch will you be carrying in the course of the U.S. Open?
Osaka: “I will be carrying this stunning watch, a Tag Heuer Aquaracer. I like the colour mixture—I feel it is actually stunning. And it matches the U.S. Open as a result of it’s going to shine brightly.”
Whenever you’re desirous about which watch you wish to put on throughout play, what model and design facets do you take into account?
Osaka: “For me, what’s vital is that it appears good, which Tag Heuer has at all times finished a very wonderful job with.”
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Aquaracer Skilled 300 Date
How do you model your Tag Heuer watch in your day by day life?
Osaka: “They’re so versatile, and I’ve additionally collected plenty of them. It simply appears like a staple—I do not know learn how to describe it. I placed on contacts on daily basis, and I placed on a Tag watch on daily basis. For me, I like selecting out the colour and [figuring] out the way it matches inside my outfit.”
Do you match your watch to your outfit or favor it to face out by itself?
Osaka: “More often than not, I prefer it to face out by itself. It is an extension of the outfit and deserves its personal limelight.”
Naomi Osaka carrying a turquoise-and-white Tag Heuer Aquaracer watch
(Picture credit score: Jared Siskin/Getty Photos for TAG Heuer)
Who’s influencing your model proper now, in tennis or out of it?
Osaka: “I am at all times gonna say Rihanna, however truly, I feel Yoon [Ahn, the creative director of] Ambush. She has an unbelievable wardrobe, and generally I simply have a look at her Instagram photographs and suppose, ‘Wow.’ She positively has among the best closets on the earth. After which on the court docket, clearly, I actually love Serena and Venus [Williams].”
At this present level in your life, how would you describe your private model journey and the place you are at together with your relationship with trend?
Osaka: “My private model journey has been a little bit of a curler coaster in the best way that I am very experimental. I’ll go full-on with an concept if I’ve it. And for me, I simply at all times keep in mind going to Japan once I was youthful and seeing full-on outfits. Vogue is a little bit of a character factor, and I like you could categorical your self that means. I am studying much more about trend as I’m going alongside.”
Lastly, court docket model or road model?
Osaka: “I’ve a dream to make my court docket model like road model, so court docket model.”
