Naomi Osaka is back at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 and she registered a winning comeback in her first-round clash against Diane Parry. The Japanese player's kit, however, did not impress fans.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, has made three main draw appearances at Wimbledon. She missed the last three editions due to multiple reasons but she was back amidst much fanfare at the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Monday, July 1.
Osaka was wearing a custom Nike kit that consisted of frills on the top. The design did not sit well with fans with many expressing their discontent.
"It’s one of the worst outfits she’s ever had," one fan wrote.
"This just p*ssed me off so bad," another wrote.
"The frills... the skirt that can't decide if it wants to be pleated yet striped... too much is going awn," a third fan wrote.
Here are some more fan reactions to Osaka's 2024 Wimbledon kit:
"I’ll pass. I know she gets to design her own stuff with Nike but this doesn’t cut it. Just looks odd," one fan wrote.
"Ex. 1 for why not all tennis players can be good designers. Too much going on with this one. Same skirt with a more … say subdued top may’ve worked. But no. We had to go all out and be frilly … everywhere," another wrote.
One fan was unsure how they felt about the kit. They wrote:
"It’s a bit much…I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it. Maybe it’ll grow on me"
Naomi Osaka advances to the second round of Wimbledon 2024 with a win over Diane Parry
Naomi Osaka played Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the first round of the 2024 Wimbledon. This was her first appearance at the grasscourt Slam in five years. It took her 1 hour and 32 minutes to win the hard-fought battle 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.
The Japanese player dominated the first set but the match witnessed a reversal with World No. 53 Parry taking the second set home comfortably. Osaka committed 13 unforced errors in the second set which helped Parry's cause.
Osaka was in danger of being broken at 4-4 in the decider but she kept her cool and made it 5-4 before breaking Parry to win the match.
The 26-year-old will take on the winner of the match between Emma Navarro and Wang Qiang in the second round.
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