LONDON — Naomi Osaka defeated Elsa Jacquemot of France 6-1, 7-5 in their first-round match at the Wimbledon Championships on Monday, June 29, 2026. Osaka, the No. 14 seed, wore a custom white outfit inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress for the match, which took place on No. 3 Court at the All England Club.

Osaka collaborated with Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi to create the ensemble. The outfit featured embroidered cranes and cherry blossoms on white fabric, along with a waist detail that had oversized bows flowing into a train. Osaka wore a Nike dress underneath the outer layer of the outfit and included a hairpiece for her bun as part of the ensemble.

Osaka stated she drew inspiration from the character O-Ren Ishii, portrayed by Lucy Liu in the film "Kill Bill." "She has an all-white kimono, and I remember thinking that was really cool and amazing," Osaka said in a news conference after beating Jacquemot. "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."

Before the match, Osaka kept her robe on while receiving instructions from the chair umpire at the net, subsequently removing it before warmups. Alicia Molik, a former top-10 ranked player and BBC commentator, noted the anticipation surrounding Osaka's attire. "It's something that we've been waiting for all day, right, what Naomi Osaka is going to appear in at Wimbledon," Molik said. "A bit of inspiration from, perhaps, a bygone era as well."

Wimbledon maintains an all-white dress code for nearly all parts of a player's outfit, including shoelaces, socks, and arm bands. Rules allow colored trim around a collar or shirt cuff if it does not exceed one centimeter in width. Women have been permitted to wear mid- or dark-colored undershorts at Wimbledon since 2023.

Osaka addressed the dress code in a news conference on Sunday. "I've never thought of the color white as restrictive," she said. "There's so many different patterns, fabrics, textures that you can use. So I've never even thought of it as something that restricts me."

No. 3 Court at Wimbledon lacks a dedicated tunnel or secluded walkway for players. Players on this court travel through the crowd, surrounded by security. Osaka described the crowd's reaction to her entrance: "I could feel when I walked by someone, they would physically turn their whole body," Osaka said. "I thought that was really fun."

Leading up to Wimbledon, Osaka withdrew from the Bad Homburg Open final due to a foot injury. She stated that the bottom of her feet felt stiff in the morning but loosened as the day progressed. Previously, Osaka wore cascading overskirts that echoed the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower at the French Open and a jellyfish-inspired ensemble at the Australian Open.