Li Na, Osaka reunite to tour Hong Kong museum

Two of the most prolific Asian champions in Hologic WTA Tour history, Li Na and Naomi Osaka, reunited this week at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open for a tour of one of Hong Kong’s most important cultural centers.

The pair visited Hong Kong’s modern M+ museum to see, among other attractions, an exhibition honoring fashion designer Guo Pei, whom the museum hails as “China’s leading couture artist.” Debuting at the museum in July, the exhibition showcases Pei’s collections, designs and sketches of Pei’s work, as well as one of the statement pieces that made her famous globally: a 55-pound, canary-yellow dress, trimmed with fur and silver florals, that was famously worn by singer Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala.

The showcase received rave reviews from the former World No.1 on social media. Posting to Instagram after her visit, Osaka dubbed it “the most gorgeous exhibition I’ve ever seen,” and “so inspiring. The 2021 Met Gala co-chair also called the dress on display “iconic.”

Since first arriving on the pro tour a decade ago, Osaka has spoken openly of being inspired by Li, the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, in her career. The pair had met multiple times previously, most notably in 2019, when Li presented Osaka with the trophy upon her winning the Australian Open, and later that year at the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

“Honestly, for me, I feel very happy when I see her because I remember I used to watch her press conferences or her on-court interviews,” Osaka said five years ago in China. “It’s just so nice seeing someone that’s so happy and able to bring out such personality after playing such tough matches.

“Whenever I talk to her, I feel very nervous and I start sweating and I rub my palms. She probably thought I was very strange. I was able to, like, ask her questions about what she thinks that I can do better and stuff like that. It’s a very big honor that I was able to ask her those questions in the first place.”

The pair had the opportunity to reconnect in 2024 with Li in her first year as tournament director of the WTA 250 event and Osaka — the second Asian Grand Slam singles champion — nonetheless making a return trip to Victoria Park despite pulling out of the competition, and ending her season, due to a back injury.

But Osaka wasn’t only excited to reunite with her idol on her first visit to Hong Kong in seven years, having last played the tournament in 2017.

She also held a meet-and-greet and autograph session with enthusiastic fans, participated in a tennis clinic with local children, and visited the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which houses hundreds of priceless artifacts from years gone by.

The packed agenda left the four-time Grand Slam champion feeling fulfilled, even though she was unable to compete at the event as she intended.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but thank you for being so kind to me Hong Kong,” Osaka wrote Wednesday in an Instagram story. “I know I joke about feeling at home in so many different places, but you’ve truly made me feel like home whenever I’ve come back here.”