Naomi Osaka Is Bringing Basketball’s Tunnel-Fit Culture to Tennis

There are certain things I expect when I watch the US Open. Honey Deuces, celebrities in the stands, a little New York humidity, and caviar and chicken nuggets. What I don’t necessarily expect is a full-blown fashion reveal before the first serve; however, this all changed last night when Naomi Osaka walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium.

For her first-round match at the 2026 US Open, Osaka emerged draped in a gown with a distressed hooded top covered in newspaper clippings and photographs chronicling moments from her career, attached to a white tulle skirt that trailed behind her. The custom Who Decides War creation, styled by Law Roach, was part streetwear, part couture and unlike the standard zip-up-and-tennis-bag entrance we’re accustomed to seeing. Senior Social Editor Kate Kesselman attended the US Open with Factor Meals and captured Osaka’s head-turning tennis look as she made her way onto the court.

Watching her walk out, I immediately thought, Oh. Naomi Osaka has turned the tennis court entrance into her tunnel. Basketball fans know exactly what I’m saying. Before tipoff, NBA players play the tunnel walk. What was once the completely unremarkable act of walking from the arena entrance to the locker room has evolved into the basketball equivalent of a red carpet. Players arrive in designer clothes, archival pieces and, in some cases, custom looks. The outfit before the uniform has become an event unto itself.

Allen Iverson helped lay the groundwork for all of it. Before today’s NBA stars were turning arena tunnels into runways, Iverson brought his own aesthetic with oversized clothes, jewelry, sneakers, headbands and braids. In fact, Osaka specifically cited Iverson as the inspiration behind her US Open look, calling him a trailblazer who changed not only how NBA players dress but the larger conversation about expressing yourself through clothing in sports.

That makes Osaka’s choice particularly clever: She’s borrowing from the man who helped create basketball’s modern fashion culture while importing that culture into tennis. Underneath the gown was another Iverson homage, as she wore a black Nike competition look inspired by basketball, accompanied by cornrows, a headband and arm sleeves.

From Serena Williams’s catsuits and tutus to Andre Agassi’s acid-washed denim shorts, what players wear while they compete has been analyzed, celebrated and occasionally policed for decades. But tennis hasn’t traditionally placed the same cultural importance on what happens in the seconds before the match begins. The tennis entrance is functional. Player walks out. Player waves. Player puts down bag. Player starts warming up. The end. But, Osaka seems determined to turn those few minutes into something else entirely. And this isn’t a one-off. At Wimbledon this summer, she arrived in an elaborate white ensemble inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress, complete with embroidered cranes, cherry blossoms and a trailing bow before removing the layers to reveal her Nike kit underneath. Vogue described the entrance as essentially a performance of its own.

Go back even further and for her 2024 US Open return, Osaka collaborated with Nike and designer Yoon Ahn on competition dresses accompanied by dramatic walk-on pieces featuring oversized bows. Even then, the clothes weren’t simply something she played tennis in. This is also perfectly suited to Osaka, because her outfits reference Japanese culture, fantasy, streetwear, motherhood and now basketball history. She’s using the entrance to tell us something about herself before she ever picks up the racket. And that’s what the best NBA tunnel fits do, too.

In fact, I’d argue she’s taking it one step further. NBA players change into uniforms after their tunnel walks; the fashion moment and the game remain separate. Osaka has figured out how to build the transformation directly into the spectacle. She arrives in one look, sheds it courtside and reveals another underneath.

Last night, Osaka wasn’t just paying homage to Allen Iverson’s style, she was borrowing one of basketball’s most powerful cultural inventions of the idea that the walk before the game matters. Finally, for fashion girlies, the entrance to a tennis match is finally just as interesting to watch as the match.