The courtside photographer pit was already full 10 minutes before call time on Thursday night inside Margaret Court Arena. As all cameras pointed directly at the players’ entrance, it was not difficult to understand why they were there.
A day earlier, Naomi Osaka had produced one of the enduring images of the 2026 Australian Open, marching on to Rod Laver Arena in an outfit inspired by a jellyfish. This time, before her gritty, contentious 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 second-round win over Sorana Cirstea, she left the hat and veil back in the locker room.
The reaction to Osaka’s sartorial choices has been fascinating. Alongside the viral social media posts and criticisms of her fashion instincts, tennis’s old guard have clutched tightly to their pearls. Boris Becker, for example, described Osaka’s outfit as “iconic” but with a caveat. “There is also a contradiction: on the one hand, she doesn’t want to be under so much pressure, she doesn’t want to be in the public eye and in the media so much – and then she comes on to centre court in an outfit like that,” he said on TNT Sports.
This has been a common refrain whenever Osaka makes any kind of eye-catching decision, a reference to her refusal to participate in post-match press conferences at the French Open in 2021. Osaka later revealed that she had been struggling with depression. For many, that incident determined their outlook on the player. In 125 matches she has played since the 2021 French Open, however, she has participated in media briefings after nearly every one. Five years is a long time and that one incident says little about Osaka at 28 years old.
Five years is also a long time between major titles. Osaka, whose last grand slam victory came at the 2021 Australian Open, is here again trying to compete among the best. After a difficult few years, her run to the semi-finals of the US Open last year, after her final at the WTA 1000 event in Canada, placed her back in the top 20 and renewed her hopes of winning a fifth slam title.
However, her win against Cirstea, a wily 35-year-old who will retire this year, was hardly encouraging for her prospects in Melbourne. Osaka found herself in a third set because she was erratic from the baseline and she struggled with an apparent abdominal problem, taking an off-court medical timeout as her serve speeds fell.
There were, however, also staccato glimpses of her greatness, particularly with the destructive, clean shotmaking later in the final set, which allowed her to close out the victory. The one-dimensional nature of Osaka’s ultra-offensive game has been exposed on many occasions in recent years, but she remains a ball striker of rare quality and only a couple of players can match her shotmaking brilliance.
Osaka’s clothes do say a lot about the contradiction at the heart of her personality. Off the court, Osaka is introverted and reserved but she is expressive through her competitive spirit on the court and her fashion.
“I feel like when I step on the court, I’m not the me that you’re talking to right now,” she said as she addressed the source of contention at the end of her victory over Cirstea. “I would never yell: ‘C’mon’ that loud in a normal setting. I almost feel like I’m a Barbie that dresses up and goes on the court and does something. When I come back in the locker room is when I’m like my true quiet Naomi.”
On Margaret Court Arena, Osaka’s competitive spirit took over. At 4-2, 30-30, a cheer of “C’mon” from Osaka to herself after a missed serve from Cirstea prompted the Romanian to complain to the umpire, Kelly Rask, arguing that Osaka’s call had hindered her. Rask explained that Osaka had not broken any rules.
Osaka won the subsequent two points to secure her second service break and she punctuated both points with loud, pointed screams across the net. A cold post-match handshake from Cirstea followed and the Romanian did not hesitate to offer her opinion at the net: “You have been playing on the tour for so long, you have no idea what fair play is,” she said.
During her on-court interview, an upset Osaka was asked about how she won the match. She responded: “Apparently a lot of ‘C’mons’ that she was angry about, but whatever.”
Osaka was more level-headed an hour later, admitting that Cirstea’s initial comments to the umpire provided her with extra motivation to close out the victory: “I’m not a person that reacts well to being casually disrespected,” she said.
However, she also took a conciliatory tone: “I’ve never been involved in something like this before, so I don’t know if we’re supposed to leave it on the court and be like: ‘Hey, how you doing?’ I’m a little confused.
“I guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologise. I think the first couple of things that I said on the court were disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do. If she wants to talk about it, then yeah. But when I’m pumping myself up, in my head I’m not like: ‘OK, now I’m going to distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me, so …”
The next challenge for Osaka in round three will be Maddison Inglis, the last Australian woman left in the draw, and an unsympathetic crowd cheering for her demise. A potential meeting with Iga Swiatek, the second seed, looms in the fourth round.
