Naomi Osaka’s mom turns heads in rare appearance at US Open

There’s no doubt where Naomi Osaka’s penchant for match-day fashion comes from.

The tennis star’s mom, Tamaki, made a rare public appearance on Thursday, taking in Naomi’s practice session at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Tamaki, a native of Japan, caught plenty of eyes in her red dress with black opera-length gloves, accessorized with oversized sunglasses and a glittery pair of Nike Air Mx Plus sneakers.

Her taste for fashion was clearly passed onto Naomi, who awed the All England Club crowd in London with an all-white, full-length kimono for her walk into the grass court ahead of a first-round win over Eli Jacquermot.

Tamaki also showed out for her daughter’s run at Wimbledon in July, donning a flower-covered dress with a woven sun hat and white gloves as she won a fourth-round match against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Following the victory, Naomi shouted out Tamaki’s influence in a different matronly matter.

“My mom’s over there,” Naomi told the crowd in an on-court interview. “She cooks a lot and I feel like her cooking is powering me. Mom, I would really appreciate another meal tonight. Thank you so much.”

Tamaki met Leonard Francis in the 1990s when he was a college student visiting Japan, with the couple moving to the US in 2001 after having daughter Mari in 1997 and Naomi a year later. Francis, inspired by Richard Williams’ development of his tennis prodigies Venus and Serena, taught the game to his daughters.

Naomi, the WTA’s No. 13-ranked singles player, made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, falling to Karolina Muchova. Since then, she made it to the semifinals of the Mubadala DC Open and the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open.

She enters the US Open with a 25-10 record on the year and slated for a first-round match with Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova.

A two-time US Open winner (’18 and ’20), she’ll no doubt follow in her mother’s footsteps and turn heads on the court.