French Open fashion: How Naomi Osaka’s gold dress reveals tennis still has some growing up to do

By David Mouriquand Published on 27/05/2026 - 10:48 GMT+2 Share Comments Share Facebook Twitter Flipboard Send Reddit Linkedin Messenger Telegram VK Bluesky Threads Whatsapp

Despite winning her opening match at Roland Garros, Naomi Osaka's sequined gold dress stole the spotlight and divided opinions. How is tennis still wrestling with women athletes' fashion choices?

Two things happened on the Court Suzanne-Lenglen at the French Open yesterday.

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Japanese tennis star and former World No.1 player Naomi Osaka beat her German opponent Laura Siegemund 6-3, 7-6 (3), starting her Roland Garros campaign in style.

Speaking of which, the second thing stole the spotlight: Osaka’s taste for fashion.

The 28-year-old four-time Grand Slam champion walked onto the court in a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice, which she removed to reveal a stunning sequined gold playing dress.

“It’s very couture,” Osaka said of her dress after the match. “You know the Eiffel Tower at night when it’s sparkly. I kind of think I look like that a little bit.”

Osaka said the playing dress was designed by Nike while the outer pieces were from Swiss couturier Kevin Germanier.

“Athletes are in show business,” Osaka said. “Grand Slam walk-ons are the only time that I possibly feel like I’m an entertainer.”

She did voice other concerns... “I actually got a little worried, because when the sun hits the dress, it reflects a lot. So I was a little scared that the umpire was going to kick me off the court,” she said. “So I (had) two back-up normal Nike dresses.”

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This isn’t the first time that Osaka has turned a show-stopping look on the tennis court, having wowed the crowd at last year’s US Open with a red outfit and sparkly red roses in her ponytail. Then, earlier this year at the Australian Open, she wore a jellyfish-inspired number including a huge wide-brim hat and a veil.

However, and in a depressingly predictable manner, the internet was divided on Osaka’s latest fashion choice.

Some were full of praise...

Others bemoaned that a woman would dare incorporate high fashion into her sportswear.

Conservative fans are claiming the outfit is disrespectful to the sport and its legacy, while others are going down the “How dare she not wear something more demure?” route.

In order not to give a platform to the sexist comments, let’s stick with this one, which resumes things quite nicely:

There’s a further personal dimension to this backlash, which is where things turn uglier. Osaka has been open about her media anxiety and struggles with mental health.

On Saturday, she said that she enjoys fashion since “I don’t talk a lot, so I can talk through my clothes.”

She added: “That means I can be as loud with colours or patterns or fabric as I want... But I think that's the fun part. I feel like we lost that a little in tennis. (...) I know there are some kids or some people that are similar to me, that hopefully feel that same way about my outfits. But, yeah, I am a little dramatic when it comes to my fashion sense."

Regardless, it seems that a certain dark corner of the tennis world just can’t seem to move with the times and celebrate bold choices – especially when it comes to policing women’s bodies and criticising what female athletes wear on the court.

It’s been seen before.

If an outfit is too loud or stylish, the athlete is accused of mistaking the court for a runway and risks a code violation warning for “unsportsmanlike behaviour”. If the sportswear is too tight, the athlete is too provocative and “lacking decorum”. And if an outfit is deemed not appealing enough, the athlete should be making more of an effort for the sake of the sport and its traditions. It’s a lose-lose-lose situation.

A notable example came in 1985, when American player Anne White was also told to wear something more “appropriate” by the Wimbledon referee after she played her first round in a long-sleeved white spandex bodysuit. Then came the 2018 US Open, where Serena Williams wore a custom Nike tutu after her catsuit (made to improve her blood circulation and avoid blood clots post-pregnancy) was banned from the French Open.

Thankfully, following Serena catsuit uproar, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) finally announced that it had “modernised” its dress code, with the rollout of a new rule which allowed for leggings and mid-thigh length compression shorts to be worn without a skirt.

Still, the history of women’s dress codes remains dishearteningly contentious and laced in sexism, and in some cases racism. And despite more encouraging moves over the years, like Wimbeldon relaxing its rigid dress code rules in 2023, court outfits still bring out archaic reactions.

As for Osaka’s gold number, former British number one Annabel Croft said a lot of players "would not be able to live up to the expectation" of walking out in custom made outfits like Osaka's.

"If you go out there in an extraordinary outfit, you've got to live up to that and have the confidence to play in it and give the crowd the tennis as well as the outfit," she said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. "Naomi can handle it. She really loves it and she's not fazed by it."

As for those who are fazed by a woman expressing herself through fashion and controlling her own narrative on a global arena, it sounds like you’re the ones guilty of “unsportsmanlike behaviour” at best, and overt sexism at worse.

Let Osaka sparkle.

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