Flawless Osaka ready to unveil all her masks

Naomi Osaka brought seven face masks to the US Open to highlight racial injustice and on the basis of her impressive showing in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Flushing Meadows looks destined to see them all.

Before the 6-3 6-4 victory over Shelby Rogers, the former champion unveiled the fifth mask emblazoned with the name of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis in May.

Two more remain in Osaka’s kit bag for the semifinal against American Jenny Brady and potentially her second US Open final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.

“I just have a feeling,” she told ESPN, explaining how she decided which mask to wear.

“I feel like I’m a vessel in order to spread awareness.”

The highlighting of the issue has taken a little of the focus away from what has been a highly impressive tournament for the fourth seed as she has made her way to her third Grand Slam semifinal.

On Tuesday, she made just eight unforced errors across two sets against a player with some big shots who she had never beaten before.

“She played pretty flawless,” Rogers said.

“I think she can go a couple more if she wants.

“She’s more confident in who she is, what her game is, how to play.”

Osaka, who at 22 already has two Grand Slam titles after winning the 2018 US Open and backing up at the 2019 Australian Open, said she had spent a lot of time during the coronavirus shutdown thinking about how she wanted to approach her tennis.

American upstart Jennifer Brady continued her surprising surge with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan s Yulia Putintseva to reach her’ first Grand Slam semifinal.

The 28th-seeded Brady, who has yet to drop a set at the 2020 US Open, used her huge forehand and impressive court coverage to deny Putintseva in her bid to become the first Kazakh woman to reach the final four of any major. —