On her Twitter account Wednesday, Naomi Osaka announced that she would be boycotting playing in the Western & Southern Tournament semi-finals to protest police brutality in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, by police in Wisconsin.
“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,” a statement from the USTA, ATP, and WTA said. “The USTA, ATP Tour, and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27. Play will resume on Friday, August 28. Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman,” she wrote in a post Wednesday night. “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. 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.”
The tournament itself has been put on hold and it is unclear when play will resume. This is part of a bigger movement across sports that started earlier this week when Blake was killed and will likely continue well into the future as racial tensions continue to escalate and the election looms.
