Naomi Osaka becomes the first female Black athlete to grace the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
Oversized earrings are apparently a thing now and they look awesome on Naomi. After rocking gigantic sparkling racquet-shaped earrings on the cover of Vogue Hong Kong, the tennis star is accessorizing with extra large seashell hoops for the iconic 2021 SI photoshoot in the United States. When it comes to the swimming suit, the Japanese chose a sexy asymmetrical black one-piece with sheer wavy panels.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day explained why they chose the 23-year-old WTA ace:
“What drew us to Naomi was her passion, strength and power geared toward consistently breaking barriers when it comes to equality, social justice and mental health. She is wholeheartedly dedicated to achieving the impossible and has succeeded time and again. We are so honored to have one of the fiercest female trailblazers in history as one of our 2021 covers.”
Besides Naomi, the other two cover stars in this year’s edition are American rapper Megan Thee Stallion and transgender American model, actress and dancer Leyna Bloom. As Day pointed out: “If there’s one thing that our cover models have in common, it’s that they don’t have one thing in common.”
