Although four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka is out of the running for the 2024 U.S. Open—she lost to Karolina Muchova in the second round—her on-court beauty moments took home nothing but wins.
Within the first few days of the two-week long tennis tournament, Osaka’s bow-clad uniform and pearl-adorned hair turned her into not just the player to watch—but one you can’t miss.
CORRECTION / Japan’s Naomi Osaka practices before Jelena Ostapenko on day two of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 27, 2024. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: Jelena Ostapenko] instead of [Jelena Jankovic]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.” (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
On day two, she arrived at her first-round match against Jelena Ostapenko with six jumbo cornrows leading into an afro puff. At the base of the braids, she wore a c-shaped pearl hair pin to match with an oversized bow on the back of her Nike x Yoon Ahn uniform. However, the sporty coquette look didn’t end with the brat green Nike visor she paired her gems with.
Enter: the second round. Less cutesy—thanks to black and white instead of lime green—than her prior match, Osaka went full throttle with the pearls on day four. Pulling in her bunnytail with a low bun, over 20 white pearls were clipped throughout her dual-toned hair, with a black visor drinking up her sweat.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 29: Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts against Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic during their Women’s Singles Second Round match on Day Four of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 29, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
With hair adjacent to a name card for Black women in sports––Venus and Serena Williams’s twinning beads and Coco Gauff’s half-braided ponytail––Osaka keeps iconic trends alive.
