stay soft osaka
the beauty of women of colour and butterflies in tennis.
Every so often, sport, and tennis in particular, produces a player whose career makes it hard to separate excellence from adversity. The Williams sisters, and the resistance they and their father faced in a hostile sporting climate, sit alongside more recent examples like Emma Raducanu, whose mental wellbeing has been affected by repeated encounters with male stalkers. Together, these stories show how women in sport, particularly women of colour, continue to perform at the highest level in environments that offer limited protection.
Naomi Osaka belong firmly within that lineage. Her most recent Australian Open run was shaped less by results than by reaction. During a match against Sorana Cîrstea, Osaka’s quiet habit of encouraging herself with a “come on” became a point of contention. A routine behaviour on the men’s tour was suddenly treated as something to scrutinise when performed by a woman of colour. Not long after, Osaka withdrew from the tournament, citing physical reasons, though wider context of judgment was hard to ignore.
This attention is not accidental. Tennis has long responded differently to the same behaviours depending on who expresses them. Intensity in men is absorbed into the spectacle. In women, particularly Back women, it is more often reframed as a problem of conduct.
Against that backdrop, Osakas return to Melbourne in 2026 carried a quieter significance. She wore a butterfly inspired outfit as a five year tribute to a moment rom the 2021 Australian Open, when a Common Brown butterfly landed on her face mid match. She held it carefullly, placed it of the court, and continued playing. Days later, she lifted the trophy.
Nike referenced that same thred earlier with a butterfly themed shoe in 2022. Not as spectacle, but acknowledgment. The butterfly never distracted from Osaka’s ability. It showed something rarer: that care and competitiveness can exist together, and that women of colour are allowed to be gentle and still win.
