The 22-year-old Japanese joins similar protests by athletes in the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Sunday (August 23) in Wisconsin.
“Before I am an athlete, I am a Black woman,” she said on Twitter.
“And as a Black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.”
Osaka defeated Anett Kontaveit 4-6 6-2 7-5 to reach the semis where she was scheduled to face Belgian Elise Mertens, who needed just over an hour to defeat qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-3 and reach her first Premier 5 semi-final.
By pulling out of the semi-finals Osaka is giving up the chance to sharpen her game further ahead of the August 31-September 13 U.S. Open Grand Slam but she said it was important for tennis to address the issue of racial injustice.
Osaka pulls out of tournament semis to protest racial injustice first appeared on Udaipur News | Udaipur Latest News | udaipur local news । Udaipur Updates.