Osaka pays ‘love and respect to Japan’ in Wimbledon kimonoImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Naomi Osaka’s best Wimbledon performances were third round appearances in in 2017 and 2025ByHarry PooleBBC Sport journalist at WimbledonPublished2 hours agoNaomi Osaka has long been renowned for dazzling crowds with her on-court outfits – but making that compatible with Wimbledon’s strict dress code required special inspiration.Japan’s four-time major winner paid tribute to her nation’s culture by arriving for her opening match at the All England Club in an elegant, full-length kimono, entirely white to adhere to the tournament’s rules.It comes after the 28-year-old sparkled in a glittering gold tennis dress that resembled “the Eiffel Tower at night” at the French Open, having worn a spectacular jellyfish-inspired outfit at the Australian Open in January.
“When I think about Wimbledon, it’s obviously the all white. There’s obviously the tradition of it all,” explained Osaka, following her 6-1 7-5 victory over French player Elsa Jacquemot.
“In my head, when I think about that, I think about my cultures, my heritage, which is Japanese and Haitian.
“Then, if I dive deeper into Japanese culture, I think about the most iconic silhouette, which for me is a kimono. You don’t have to see the colour of a kimono to know that it is a kimono.
“I don’t know, I was thinking about my favourite movies also. I love Kill Bill. I remembered absolutely falling in love with Lucy Liu’s character.
“She has an all-white kimono, and I remember thinking that was really cool. Then it just kind of went from there. It was like my interpretation of that, while also paying a lot of respect and love to Japan.”
