Naomi Osaka Takes Unseriousness To New Level By Taking Court At Australian Open Dressed As A Jellyfish

Naomi Osaka hates attention and despises the spotlight. That is not an opinion, but a fact, based on her past comments and self-inflicted wounds involving the media. Yet, her actions have consistently contradicted practically everything that has come out of her mouth in recent years.

Osaka may be a four-time Grand Slam winner and former No. 1 player in the world, but that does not make her a serious person, and the stunt she pulled ahead of her first-round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday was just the latest proof.

The 28-year-old made her way onto the court in the most ridiculous outfit the sport has ever seen, complete with an obnoxious white hat covering her face, long-flowing pants, and an open umbrella draped over her shoulder. 

Naomi Osaka showed up to the Australian Open dressed as a jellyfish. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Osaka looked more like a wrestler making an entrance at an incredibly low-level event held at your local convention center instead of a professional tennis player at a Grand Slam. But again, she is among the most-unserious, world-class athletes of a generation.

She told Vogue that the ludicrous outfit was inspired by a picture of a jellyfish that her two-year-old daughter got excited about. It's objectively hilarious to think about Osaka sitting down with a design team and saying, ‘I’d like to show up to the Australian Open dressed like a jellyfish, let's make that happen.'

Osaka, the 16-seed in the Aussie Open, went on to win her first-round match in three sets over unseeded Antonia Ruzic of Croatia. The tennis isn't the talking point, however, it's the ‘fashion statement’ that the self-proclaimed introvert decided to make prior to the match.

This is the same Naomi Osaka who withdrew from the French Open in 2021 because she didn't agree with having to do mandatory post-match press conferences that included ‘difficult’ questions from reporters. The same Naomi Osaka who later wrote an op-ed for Time, claiming that athletes should be given "sick days" they can use to skip out on media obligations.

This is also the same Naomi Osaka who withdrew from the 2021 French Open only to later pose for the cover of Sports Illustrated, Vogue, sign up for a Netflix special, and roll up to the Met Gala.

You'll be stunned to find out that Osaka was more than willing to talk about her jellyfish attire after her win over Ruzic, as many in the tennis world call the cringeworthy moment "iconic."