Armon Fletcher

Naomi Osaka walked out of the tunnel at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night in a custom white gown covered in newspaper clippings from her own career, hood up. Then she took it off. Underneath was all black. Cornrows. A black and red headband. A sweatband on one arm, a sleeve on the other. Allen Iverson, circa his MVP season in Philadelphia. She posted the look on Instagram right before the match with a two word caption. The Answer. "It's my, I guess, my tribute to Iverson. I really like him a lot," Osaka said afterward. "Nike said basketball, so I said, OK, you want basketball, I'll give you basketball." The gown came from the label Who Decides War. Designers Téla D'Amore and Ev Bravado told Vogue that Osaka and her stylist Law Roach sent them two reference photos of Iverson in a headband. Just the head. From there they had roughly 30 hours to build the rest of it. Osaka had been laying the groundwork all weekend. She showed up to her pre-tournament press conference in a shirt featuring Iverson's 99 Slam Magazine cover. "For me, he's a trailblazer. I think he's also someone that I look up to a lot because he's kind of done a lot in fashion, whether it's on purpose or not, but he's shifted the way that NBA players dress." Iverson saw all of it. He responded on Instagram, at 51 years old, sounding genuinely thrown. "Wow, what a honor!! BIG FAN can't wait to meet you." Here's the part that made the whole thing land instead of just being a costume. She won. Osaka beat Anastasia Zakharova 7-6, 7-6, fighting off a 6-5 deficit in both sets and closing it with an ace. She hit 11 aces total. It took her more than two hours, and it was her first match in a month. It was also her 10th major match win of the season, her most since 2019, and the first time since 2018 that she's won a match at all four Grand Slams in the same year. She was honest about the nerves. "I haven't played since Toronto so I was a little rusty, and also I just get really nervous during the first round of this tournament, because I want to do well and I want to show you guys some more outfits." She plays Katerina Siniakova on Wednesday. Iverson spent his career being told to change how he dressed. Twenty five years later, a four time Grand Slam champion put on his look to walk into the biggest stadium in tennis. For more stories like this, follow us on any platform @thesportsontap