THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 29, 2026

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/E. Jacquemot

6-1, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: First question for Naomi.

Q. Can you tell us a bit more about the walk-on outfit you wore, the Japanese-inspired style, what inspired you and how much preparation went into it. Especially because it's Wimbledon, the dress code...

NAOMI OSAKA: For me, like when someone talks about Wimbledon or when I think about Wimbledon, it's like obviously the all white. It's the oldest tournament, right, the oldest slam or something?

Yeah, then there's obviously, like, the tradition of it all. 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 like Japanese culture, I think about the most iconic silhouette, which for me is a kimono. You don't have to see the color of a kimono to know that it is a kimono.

I don't know, I was just thinking about my favorite movies also. I love Kill Bill. I remembered absolutely falling in love with Lucy Lu's character. She has an all-white kimono, and I remember thinking that was really cool and amazing. 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.

Q. A battle in the second set. How do you assess your performance today?

NAOMI OSAKA: I try not to critique myself too harshly in the first rounds. I think I played pretty good in the first set. Honestly, she wasn't swinging as much as she was in the second. I think in the second she played a little bit like a different player. She was a lot more aggressive.

From my end, the score looked really bad, but I realized that I was only down one break. I just needed to fight as hard as I could.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on why it's so relatively rare that you have players like yourself, Venus and Serena, who like to go outside of the box with their outfits? I understand every player doesn't get a chance to do that with their partnerships. It feels like a special treat when a player takes an extra interest in fashion. Do you have any thoughts on that?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, I mean, for me, I kind of go out of my way to do it. It's not a partnership with Nike ever. I kind of approach the designer directly. Obviously, like, the dress is being sold by Nike. That's something different.

I don't know. For me, it's something that I'm used to doing, like wearing these extravagant outfits and stuff. I feel like everyone has their own way of showing that they're into fashion. I'm always really surprised whenever I go to the locker room, I get a lot of questions about it. It seems to be fun for everyone. You just wouldn't expect it.

Q. On the outfit again. Your walk to the court, you obviously were walking among some of the fans. What was that like? It was the big reveal. Some people got a glimpse of it as you were walking to the court.

NAOMI OSAKA: From my end, I thought that was really fun just because I didn't think anyone expected that. I try to lock in a little bit and wear my headphones. I could feel, like when I walked by someone, they would physically turn their whole body. I thought that was really fun.

It was cool 'cause I heard some people say, Wow, that's a really beautiful kimono and stuff like that. So it was nice.

Q. Is the plan to wear it again later in the tournament? Do you have anything else planned? Something you just kind of wanted to arrive with?

NAOMI OSAKA: Hmmm... I feel like on my end I like to shake things up. I try to mix it up every round (smiling).

Q. Does it help ease any of the nerves of the actual match?

NAOMI OSAKA: I'm just laughing because this is all fashion questions (laughter). No, I love it. It's so funny to be at Wimbledon, like talking about clothes.

No, I mean, I wouldn't say it eases my nerves to wear these outfits because a little part of my mind wants to do well so I can continue wearing them.

Obviously, like for the French Open, you don't want to wear a ball gown and lose in the first round. That does cross my mind a little bit. I also feel like I'm old enough to I guess just, like, push through it. Also if it entertains people, it entertains people.

Yeah, at the end of the day, like, we're the best players in the world playing in this Grand Slam. Whoever wins is the best player of that day.

For me, I'm going to try to enjoy it however I can.

Q. A boring tennis question.

NAOMI OSAKA: Dang.

Q. Does it feel as hectic as it seems to go to a final to training to playing a match?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, honestly, it was a little concerning for me just because I couldn't finish my final, then I had to fly the same day, then try to practice the next day, then I had to play my match today. I was definitely really stressed out about it. But thankfully we got to the other side and I'm here now.

I guess, like, while that was happening, I kind of remembered that I never really play tournaments the week before a Grand Slam. The only time that really ever happened was the 2020 US Open when Cincinnati was, like, on the same site, yeah.

Q. What are players asking you in the locker room?

NAOMI OSAKA: I got asked if I only have one, because it's all white, and what happens if I stain it. She was like, If you stain it, do you have to, like, dye it after that? Some people were like, Is it against the rules if you dye it, and then is that considered not wearing all white? Because I am taking it off and stuff.

A lot of people had a lot of different interesting questions.

Q. How did the ankle feel? Was it a worry at all going into today's match?

NAOMI OSAKA: It's actually not my ankle, it's the bottoms of my feet.

I mean, it felt fine. In the mornings, it's really stiff. I think it loosens up throughout the days. I just have to see what happens because I played, I mean, it wasn't a short match today, but I guess I'll just see what happens.

Q. Did you have a chance to watch any of Haiti's matches at the World Cup?

NAOMI OSAKA: I did. I was also just really sad because the Brazil match is the one I really wanted to watch. It was like 2 a.m. in Germany. I couldn't watch that one live. I don't know, I felt really proud of them.

Q. Japan are beating Brazil.

NAOMI OSAKA: I know. That's why I'm answering very quickly (smiling).

Q. A lot of your fans this grass court season have been calling you Naomi Grass-Saka. What do you make of that? What do you think changed about your game? Is it your mindset, performance, or confidence on the grass court?

NAOMI OSAKA: First, I think that's a really cute nickname. Hopefully I'm able to win a lot more matches for them to be able to continue calling themselves that.

But I would say it's probably a combination of all of those three. I think from my end, I just always in my head considered myself a hard court player. I tried to expand my mind a little bit this year with the clay court season and then coming into this with Tomasz. We did a lot of different drills that I'm not used to. It's been helping a lot.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I think my progression with grass has been really interesting. I would honestly say in my mind I think my relationship with clay was a lot better than my relationship with grass just because I feel like I've had a lot more matches on clay.

But this year has been a positive for me. Obviously it's still going and we're still in this tournament. But I think movement-wise, confidence-wise, I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I just hope that it will help me go further in hard courts as well, the way that I'm playing here.

The thing I think I did well today? Hmmm... I think just like mentality. Obviously I was down a break in the second set, and it looked really bad, because it was like 3-0. Just trying I guess to push through that.

I feel like my serve normally would be what I would be very positive about, but I need to work on it a little tomorrow.

Fantastic, guys.