The Forbidden City to the Great Wall: Alcaraz, Gauff, Kostyuk & Osaka see Beijing's famous sights

In her first visit to the China Open since winning the title in 2019, Naomi Osaka hit the wall ... literally. The four-time Grand Slam champion took some time out from her tournament preparations to walk the Great Wall of China.

Osaka looked stylish for her day out in a high-neck black dress with a cinch at the waist and studded black flats, accessorizing with a Louis Vuitton black tote and a Tag Heuer watch. She and her entourage also enjoyed a trip down the Wall's famous toboggans, which take visitors from the No. 6 Watchtower to the base.

"Highly recommend," was Osaka's verdict of the ride on TikTok.

Two days later, Osaka was off and running on court at the WTA 1000 event, cruising to victory over Italian Lucia Bronzetti in both her first match of the tournament, and with Patrick Mouratoglou as her coach.

Elsewhere along the more than 13,000-mile wall, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and her coach, Sandra Zaniewska, also posed for photos. Kostyuk opted for a much cooler athleisure look for her sunshine stroll across the "100 floors," wearing a white tank and zip-up hoodie, black leggings, and yellow sneakers.

"Just hanging out with some bricks," the No. 14 seed captioned a social media photo dump from her exploration.

Read more: Whether it's forehands or fashion, Marta Kostyuk is not afraid to take feedback

But they weren't the only big names to play tourist before the tournament began in earnest on Wednesday.

Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff, who made their respective first trips to Beijing last year, were welcomed inside the Forbidden City, the famous royal palace of ancient China that was home to two dozen emperors.

The two major-winners donned traditional clothing as they posed for photos outside the palace, hit tennis balls in its courtyard, and learned about museum artifacts.

“It was a great experience being there," Alcaraz said in his pre-tournament press-conference. "I couldn't go around much last year. For me, it's great to see the culture here in China, see different things. Being there [in the Forbidden City] was a great experience for me. I'm really happy to be back here again in Beijing.”

Alcaraz, seeded No. 2 at the ATP 500, will face big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his first round on Thursday. Gauff, seeded No. 4, received a first-round bye and will play another French player, Clara Burel, in her first match since splitting with coach Brad Gilbert.