Naomi Osaka shares highlights from sunflower-themed summer in Melbourne after Australian Open heartbreak

Naomi Osaka shared some beautiful snaps from her sunflower-themed summer in Melbourne after her 2025 Australian Open campaign came to an unfortunate end. Her sunflower-themed Nike outfit broke the internet.

Osaka kicked off the season with some riveting tennis reaching the final of the ASB Classic, but retired mid-way citing abdominal issues. She entered the Australian Open and passed the Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova tests in the opening two rounds. Unfortunately, her abdominal issue flared up again and she withdrew from her third-round match against Belinda Bencic.

Though the Japanese player's campaign suffered a disappointing end, it still had a silver lining. Her custom Nike sunflower-themed kit which featured special sunflower shoes and sunflower hair clips took the internet by storm.

Naomi Osaka took to Instagram to share some highlights from her time in Melbourne, calling it the 'sunflower summer'. One picture shows the 27-year-old posing with a sunflower on her head, while another is a selfie with her compatriot Kei Nishikori. Other pictures feature her team, her sunflower shoes, a sunflower bouquet, her reaction to watching her winner's plaque, and more, captioned:

"Some outtakes from sunflower summer 🌻"

During her time in Melbourne, the two-time Australian Open champion also received a special sunflower made of LEGO as a gift. She shared a picture of the gift on her Instagram story.

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"Thank you for inspiring me, thank you for believing in me" - Naomi Osaka pens a heartfelt note for fans following emotional Australian Open end

Naomi Osaka bidding the Melbourne crowd adieu - Source: Getty

Following the unfortunate end to her Australian Open campaign, Naomi Osaka shared a heartfelt note on Threads to thank her fans for their unbridled support and inspiring her. She narrated an incident with a fan, which made her feel grateful. She later shared the message on her Instagram story.

"Walking on the court today I saw a girl with a bouquet of sunflowers. It was then that I was again reminded that I will never be able to repay the love that is constantly shown. Thank you for inspiring me, thank you for believing in me," Osaka wrote.

This is not the first time an Osaka outfit has taken the tennis world by storm. The Japanese superstar's 'Goth lolita' kit at the 2024 US Open was the talk of tennis town. Osaka called her triumph over Karolina Muchova at the Australian Open her 'little revenge' for her loss at the 2024 US Open.