Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka turned her arrival at Rod Laver Arena into a high-fashion runway affair on Tuesday night, wearing a large white wide-brimmed hat with a white sheer veil worn low over her eyes, white flared trousers, a jellyfish-inspired tunic and butterflies on her hat and parasol.
I think I served pretty well, and she’s a great player. I’ve never played against her, but I hope I don’t see her on the other side of the net, but if I do, I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to have some pretty good matches. Naomi Osaka
The four-time major winner’s Nike and Robert Wun-designed ensemble made quite a statement, and after her match, Osaka revealed that the inspiration behind the outfit wasn’t pop culture, but nature.
“It’s modeled after a jellyfish,” Osaka said. “I’m so grateful that I get to do the things I love. It’s really beautiful.”
The butterfly outfit was a reference to Osaka’s 2021 Australian Open title run, which saw a butterfly land on the Japanese in her third-round match against Ons Jabeur.
Osaka lined up against Croatia’s world number 65 Antonia Ruzic, who ensured the former world number 1 didn’t have all the spotlight to herself by pushing the Japanese all the way under the lights, but the 16th seed found the tennis to match her outfit in the key moments to pull through, 6-3 3-6 6-4.
Osaka kept much of her outfit on for the toss and returned to more traditional attire for the match play, a mostly turquoise kit, including her usual visor and shoes.
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Ruzic competed well on Melbourne Park’s largest show field on her AO debut and made it a birthday to remember for the now 23-year-old Croatian.
Ruzic is an echo of Grand Slam winner Simona Halep, who likes to play front-foot tennis and grab the ball early to fire forehands down the line, while also countering effectively.
However, the 28-year-old Osaka’s pace soon helped the No. 16 to a 3-0 lead, but when Ruzic saved four break points as part of a 9 deuce match for 1-3, the whole situation of the matter changed.
Osaka was immediately broken, but eventually regained her authority at 5-3 and served the set to love, scoring 88% after her first serve in the opener.
Undeterred, Ruzic took a 2-0 lead in the second, eliminating her previous backhand errors and extending her winners to a 5-3 lead, where she trailed 15-40 but saved both break points, the second thanks to a scorching backhand winner.
Strangely, the match was stopped for about ten minutes after the red light on the net posts failed to go out.
The light flashes red when a ball lands out of play, but players were left waiting awkwardly as an electrical engineer rushed to shut down the offending circuit.
When play resumed, Ruzic took her second set point opportunity to level the match at a set apiece.
Antonia Ruzic was on the cusp of a first Top 20 victory over Naomi Osaka, who ripped things out of her hands and scored the victory to advance to Round 2 in Melbourne
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Osaka left the court for a bathroom break, but Ruzic’s pressure followed as the Japanese returned and she had to hold off Deuce to start the decider, before a lightning backhand down the line paved the way for a quick break and a 2-0 lead for the former AO champions.
While at 40-15 on serve, the momentum shifted again, with Ruzic saving a game point with a forehand down the line to get to 1-2, then saving a break point to make it 2-2.
The Croatian challenger found his way to 3-3 by capitalizing on Osaka’s strength and delivering a delicate backhand drop shot, before a wayward Japanese backhand gave Ruzic the break for 4-3.
Now on the cusp of a first win in the Top 20, Osaka snatched things out of Ruzic’s hands, delivering two forehand winners to start the next game, breaking and quickly holding at love for 5-4.
Ruzic started the next game with a forehand long as Osaka floundered, and her resistance finally crumbled when the 16th seed planted another backhand down the line to end the 2 hour 22 minute thriller.
“I think I served pretty well, and she’s a great player,” Osaka said. “I’ve never played against her, but I hope I don’t see her on the other side of the net. But if I do, I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to have some pretty good games.”
Sorana Cirstea, playing her final season on tour, advanced to Round 2 of the Australian Open with a three-set victory against Eva Lys
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Osaka next meets Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who advanced with a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win against Germany’s Eva Lys after 2 hours and 10 minutes of play, avenging her loss in their only previous match, in the first round of the Transylvania Open, in 2023.
The Romanian recently announced that 2026 will be her final year on the WTA Tour after reaching two Grand Slam quarter-finals in her career and reaching a record 21 in the world.
Cirstea is the second Romanian to qualify for Round 2 in Melbourne, after Gabriela Ruse, who will next play against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic
Meanwhile, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko broke a six-match losing streak with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova.
The 24th seed, a 2023 Australian Open quarter-finalist, advances to a second-round meeting with Wang Xinyu after the Chinese defeated Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 6-3.
The women’s three seed fell as Germany’s Laura Siegemund defeated 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova 0-6 7-5 6-4; Indonesia’s Janice Tjen defeated former US Open finalist and 22nd seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-2 7-6(1); and Czech Tereza Valentova outplayed Australian No. 1 and 30th seed Maya Joint to win 6-4 6-4.
Jelena Ostapenko snapped a six-match losing streak with a straight sets win over Rebecca Sramkova at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
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