Tamaki gave Naomi Osaka mother outfit US Open chatter a live subject on Thursday, showing up at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for her daughter’s practice session. The appearance was rare, and the outfit did most of the talking: a red dress, black opera-length gloves, oversized sunglasses, and a glittery pair of Nike Air Max Plus sneakers.
Thursday at the USTA
Thursday mattered because Osaka arrived at the US Open carrying a 25-10 record on the year and a first-round match with Anastasia Zakharova. That makes any visible family presence part of the build to a tournament where Osaka has already won twice, in 2018 and 2020.
Naomi Osaka enters as the WTA’s No. 13-ranked singles player, so the practice session was not just a photo opportunity. It sat inside a larger competitive picture: a top-15 player preparing for a first-round assignment while observers also tracked the people around her, not only her shots.
London in June
The wardrobe attention was not an accident of timing. In June, Osaka walked into Wimbledon in an all-white, full-length kimono before beating Eli Jacquermot in the first round, and in July Tamaki watched her Wimbledon run in a flower-covered dress, woven sun hat, and white gloves. That pattern turned a simple practice visit into part of a recognizable family visual language around Osaka’s major events.
After Wimbledon, Osaka beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round and said, “My mom’s over there,” during the on-court interview. She added, “She cooks a lot and I feel like her cooking is powering me.” Then came the line that made the family connection even more plain: “Mom, I would really appreciate another meal tonight. Thank you so much.”
Osaka and Tamaki
Tamaki’s rare public appearance contrasts with the family’s otherwise limited visibility in the story. She met Leonard Francis in the 1990s when he was a college student visiting Japan, and the family later moved to the US in 2001 after Mari was born in 1997 and Naomi a year later. Francis taught tennis to his daughters, which is part of why any sighting of Tamaki still lands as more than a style note.
For readers watching Osaka’s US Open run, the immediate takeaway is simple: the mother at practice is part of the frame now, but the result still has to come on court. Osaka has already reached the semifinals of the Mubadala DC Open and the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open after Wimbledon, and Zakharova is the first test that will show whether the momentum carries beyond the photo-ready moment on Thursday.
