- - Australian Open 2026: Naomi Osaka stuns with outfit before advancing, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner move on

Chris Cwik January 21, 2026 at 1:14 AM

0

Australian Open 2026: Naomi Osaka stuns with outfit before advancing, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner move on

Naomi Osaka has experienced plenty of success at the Australian Open over her career. The 28-year-old has won the event twice, with her most recent win coming in 2021. While Osaka hasn't won a major since then, she usually performs well at the event.

So it should come as no surprise that Osaka won her first-round match Tuesday. Osaka dispatched Antonio Ružić, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. With the win, Osaka advanced to the second round, where she'll take on Sorana Cîrstea on Thursday.

While Osaka did drop a set Tuesday, she was strong overall during the match. Osaka registered 11 aces vs. Cîrstea and had a 72 percent win percentage on her first serves. Her serves, which came in nearly 30 km/h faster than Cîrstea's, proved to be a huge issue for her Croatian opponent.

Though Osaka deserves credit for her play, her outfit arguably received more attention after the match. Osaka was asked about her outfit choice, saying she modeled it after a jellyfish.

Naomi Osaka spoke about her Australian Open outfit after her win over Ruzic“This outfit is now iconic…”Naomi: “Nike let me design this one. It’s modeled after a jellyfish. I’m so grateful that I get to do the things that I love. It’s really beautiful.”Naomi: “There’s a… pic.twitter.com/BTnvuPMpKp

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 20, 2026

Osaka reached the third round of the Australian Open last year, and will look to once again make it to that stage if she can beat Cîrstea on Thursday.

Taylor Fritz, Jannik Sinner advance to next round

It took Taylor Fritz a little while to get going, but the American pulled out the win in the first round of the Australian Open. After going to a tiebreak in the first set and then losing the second set, Fritz recovered to take the next two sets and defeat Valentin Royer 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

Fritz, who came into the event ranked No. 9, picked up 24 aces in the win. With the win, he'll take on Vít Kopřiva on Thursday.

Fritz has experienced success at the Australian Open in recent years, making it to at least the third round of the event in six of the past seven years.

While things looked dicey for Fritz momentarily, Jannik Sinner had no such issues. The Italian advanced in just two sets (6-2, 6-1) over his first-round opponent, Hugo Gaston, after Gaston was forced to retire after the second set. Gaston, who was coming back from an Achilles injury in November, was emotional on the court following the decision to stop the match.

Sinner offered kind words to his opponent before leaving the court.

Jannik Sinner advances to the 2nd round of the Australian Open as Hugo Gaston is forced to retire due to injury. Sad way for this match to end. Hugo was in tears… Jannik walked over to console him. Hopefully he’s able to bounce back from this quickly. ❤️‍🩹 pic.twitter.com/yYbEShyDZP

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 20, 2026

With the win, Sinner will take on James Duckworth on Thursday.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”