LONDON (AP) — Wimbledon's strict rules about all-white clothing didn't prevent Naomi Osaka from making another fashion statement as she walked onto the grass at the All England Club on Monday.
Osaka, who has made a habit of creating a buzz with her creative outfits at recent Grand Slam tournaments, wore a flowing kimono with swinging sleeves and elaborate embroidery as she walked onto No. 3 Court for her first-round match against Elsa Jacquemot.
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Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
After winning 6-1, 7-5, Osaka said she got the inspiration for the outfit from a Quentin Tarantino movie.
“For me, my Japanese heritage means a lot. They say all white at Wimbledon and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono," Osaka said in an on-court interview. "I just get inspired by a lot of different things, and for me, one of my favorite movies is ‘Kill Bill.' So I really love Lucy Liu's character, O-Ren Ishii, and she comes out in this really iconic white kimono. I always tell people I like to be like a video game character sometimes, I don't want to be myself when I'm playing on the court. And I kind of try to embody her a little.”
The Japanese player's latest creation drew a rave reaction from the crowd, many of whom were eagerly waiting with their phones aloft to record her entrance. One female fan shouted “C'mon queen!” as Osaka walked out.
“It’s something that we’ve been waiting for all day, right, what Naomi Osaka is going to appear in at Wimbledon," said Alicia Molik, the former top-10 ranked player who is doing commentary for the BBC.
Osaka kept her robe on as she bounced on her toes at the net while listening to instructions from the chair umpire. She then removed it and placed it on her chair to begin warmups before the match started.
The four-time Grand Slam champion’s fashion creations and walk-ons are becoming an eagerly anticipated ritual at both Grand Slam tournaments and other events.
At the Australian Open this year, she walked onto court wearing a wide-brim hat, a veil and holding a white parasol. At the French Open, she came out for her opening match in a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice, which she removed to reveal a sequined gold playing dress.
And at the Met Gala in New York, Osaka stunned in a edgy Robert Wun white sculptural fitted dress featuring exaggerated shoulders and adorned with red feathers and a matching headpiece. To complete her look, she wore two-toned red gloves.
So the big question ahead of Wimbledon was, how would she handle the all-white rule at the All England Club?
“Literally everyone keeps asking me that and I've never thought of the color white being a restriction,” Osaka said at her pre-tournament press conference on Sunday. “I feel like there’s so many different patterns, fabrics, textures that you can use.”
And use them, she did.
AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
Naomi Osaka of Japan walks into the court to play against Elsa Jacquemot of France in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts, though one of Iran's top negotiators said no further talks had been scheduled after attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend challenged negotiations to end the war.
The U.S. president has tried to preserve a fragile interim deal, but hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.
Trump said on social media that a meeting with Iran would happen Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, are flying to Qatar for the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, denied any talks had been scheduled.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country, opens the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.
The Trump administration was operating Monday on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down after the recent back-and-forth strikes and that vessels can move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
The U.S. official also said that Qatar planned to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets that would be used to purchase U.S. food products for the Iranian people.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the expected release of funds earlier Monday in comments that appeared to be aimed at selling the Iranian public on the interim deal.
During the war that began Feb. 28, Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis.
In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels in the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — following efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.
The attacks drew retaliatory American airstrikes and raised concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.
The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.
Pezeshkian offered praise for the interim deal in comments published Monday by the state-run IRNA news agency, calling it “a great victory for the Iranian people.”
“Based on the plans made, $6 billion out of the total $12 billion of Iranian resources in Qatar will be released and returned to the country, and necessary follow-ups are being carried out,” he said. He did not elaborate.
Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran's theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar, a key mediator along with Pakistan in the negotiations.
Pakistan, a key mediator, has said talks between Iran and the U.S. would resume Tuesday.
Gharibabadi, the Iranian negotiator, cast doubt on the meeting in comments published by IRNA.
“Reports by some media about technical talks by the working groups being held in Doha are not confirmed,” he said.
Technical talks involve lower-level diplomats working on the specifics of any deal that would draw top leaders from Iran and the U.S. back to the table.
Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said Monday that Oman and Iran are considering charging service-related fees for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Albusaidi said services could include water safety measures, pollution prevention, navigational assistance and preparedness for incidents such as fires. He told Radio Monte Carlo while visiting France that there are “successful examples” of similar services being provided in compliance with maritime law.
Albusaidi said Oman does not support imposing transit fees on ships.
“This is internationally forbidden," he said, "and we are abiding by these rules."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Lebanon is determined to deploy troops along its entire southern border as part of a framework agreement with Israel signed Friday. He made the remark while meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East.
The deal was rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which triggered the latest war with Israel on March 2 when it fired rockets across Lebanon's southern border and into northern Israel.
The Israel-Lebanon deal calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed before Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Israel agreed to withdraw initially from a couple of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army would then deploy, but no details have been shared about how that will work in practice.
Hezbollah officials have warned that attempts to implement the plan could lead to civil war.
Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
Women talk in front of a banner with graphic depicting the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissing head of the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, as they wait for the green light to cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Women talk in front of a banner with graphic depicting the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissing head of the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, as they wait for the green light to cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a welcoming billboard featuring Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian along a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
