Naomi Osaka continues to make use of her platform to deliver consciousness to racial inequality. On Monday evening, the tennis star donned a mask earlier than and after her first-round US Open match that honored Breonna Taylor, a Black girl shot and killed by the police in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this yr. Taylor's case has been on the forefront of the equality motion, as athletes have known as for the officers accountable for her taking pictures and dying to be arrested.
Osaka, the No. 4 seed on the US Open, wore the mask earlier than match in opposition to Misaki Doi and was carrying it once more for her post-match interview. Osaka beat No. 81 Doi, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Osaka introduced seven masks to the event, every one honoring a sufferer of racial inequality or police brutality.
"It is fairly unhappy that seven masks is not sufficient for the quantity of names, so hopefully I will get to the finals so you possibly can see all of them," Osaka said.
The 2018 US Open champion joined many athletes final week in saying she wouldn't take part in her scheduled match within the Western & Southern Open in protest of police taking pictures Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot within the again seven occasions by police in Wisconsin.
After the Milwaukee Bucks didn't present up for his or her playoff video games final week, groups throughout all sports activities adopted their lead, asking leagues and most people to do extra within the struggle for racial equality. Osaka did resolve to play within the Western & Southern Open after talking to event organizers. The event determined to take a day without work to deliver consideration to the problems at hand.
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