Tennis fashion: Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic

For her: Express yourself

Since Serena Williams left the tennis stage, it had become a bit boring on the centre courts of the world. She wore catsuits and sometimes jackets with trains on her way onto the court, and the element of surprise always made you hold your breath. Now there is suddenly fashion excitement again, because Naomi Osaka is back. After her maternity leave, the former number one in the world rankings returned to the tennis tour at the beginning of the year, but has not been able to build on her successes so far, which is why she finds herself in the wildcard position – and that is always the best in a woman's life. When nothing is expected of you, you can do what you want. So she entered the court for her first match at the US Open in an amazing outfit: a huge bow on the back, several small ones on her headphones and her shoes, a tutu under the bright green ruffled skirt of the dress. Her problem is not to lose, she had previously written on Instagram, her problem is not feeling at home in her body. Sometimes you have to fake confidence, and there's no better way to do that than with what you wear. Designer Yoon Ahn, who works for Nike, asked the tennis player what was currently inspiring her, and the answer was: Lolita-goth vibes, or Harajuku. In other words, Tokyo street style. The best look in a woman's fashion arsenal is the one that screams the loudest: I have nothing to lose! Osaka won.

For him: keep the ball flat

One of Novak Djokovic's many amazing achievements is that he has not attracted any attention in terms of fashion for twenty years. No eccentricity, no variation, no experiments – he has always been so well-dressed on the court, as if he were a tennis student who had just bought his first outfit at Sport Wagner. Occasionally he wears a dress in primary colors instead of white, to match the colors of the tournament in question, but that's about it. Off the court he wears basic jeans or a very neat and completely irrelevant suit when there's a gala. For his permanent outfitter Lacoste, this lack of stylistic needs is probably both a blessing and a curse – on the one hand, Djokovic perfectly embodies the classic, clean tennis ideal that the brand stands for. On the other hand, a little more fashion flair would certainly be in the marketing sense from time to time – such an inconspicuous player of the century, there's no way that can be! Perhaps the strange thing about this top athlete is that he always seems a bit pale in comparison to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, in a holistic sense. Not that the other two were particularly fashion-conscious, but at the height of their success they embodied a certain lifestyle and sporting grandeur. Djokovic, on the other hand, makes it clear with his outfit that sobriety and consistency have made him the last player of the legendary troika who can still win. Clean socks and an ironed shirt always win out in the end.