Naomi Osaka withdraws from W&S to protest racial injustice
Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka reached the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open and withdrew a few hours later in a call for racial justice, drawing quick support from other players.
Soon after, the whole tournament was put on hold for a day.
“As a sport, tennis is collectively taking a stance against racial inequality and social injustice that once again has been thrust to the forefront in the United States. The USTA, ATP Tour, and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing tournament play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27,” the three oganizations said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Japanese star and last Top 10 seed in the women’s bracket, joined professional athletes in basketball, baseball and football in demanding change after Jacob Blake was shot by police.
Osaka tweeted that as a Black woman, she feels compelled to pull out of the tournament to put a focus on police shooting Black people.
“I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction,” Osaka tweeted.
“Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.
“I’m exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I’m extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again. When will it ever be enough?”
Her move quickly got support from others players on the tour.
Sloane Stephens retweeted the message and added: “Say it louder! Proud of you.”
After reaching the semifinals late Wednesday, Milos Raonic said the ATP and WTA should consider a joint action that goes beyond a small group of players.
“I think real disruption, that’s what makes change, and I think a lot of real disruption is caused by affecting people in a monetary way and can force some kind of change,” he said.
“I’m hoping at least we on the men’s tour as well as the women’s, we band together and we show support.”
All NBA and WNBA games, three Major League Baseball games and five of six Major League Soccer games were called off Wednesday as athletes demanded racial justice.
Osaka beat No 12 Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Wednesday afternoon, reaching the semifinals as the only Top 10 player left in the bracket. She was scheduled to play No 14 Elise Mertens in the semifinals before the disruption.
And it is still unclear if Osaka will reconsider her decision after organisers suspended play for Thursday. The semi-finals will now be played on Friday, which is scheduled to be the final day of the event.
Victoria Azarenka will play eighth-seeded Johanna Konta in the other women’s semifinal. Konta beat Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-3 and Azarenka advanced in straight sets against Ons Jabeur.
Djoker wins
In the men’s section, World number one Novak Djokovic, who launches his bid for a fourth US Open title and 18th Grand Slam crown on Monday, needed only 62 minutes to rout Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-1.
The 33-year-old Serbian, who seeks a fourth US Open title and 18th Grand Slam crown, advanced to a semi-final against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, who upset defending champion Daniil Medvedev, last year’s US Open runner-up from Russia, by 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The other men’s semi-final will see Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who advanced down 5-6 when American Reilly Opelka retired, against Canada’s Milos Raonic, who defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.