Osaka all set for a return to court
US SPORTS TO RESUME PLAY AFTER PROTESTS
NAOMI OSAKA and the NBA plan to return to work after taking historic strike action in protest over the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Three months after the murder of George Floyd – and four years to the day of Colin Kaepernick’s first public display of defiance – the double Grand Slam champion had joined the Milwaukee Bucks in expressing outrage and frustration over the latest police attack on a black man.
“Watching the continued genocide of black people at the hands of police is honestly making me sick to my stomach,” Osaka wrote on Twitter.
And like the NBA side from Wisconsin, where Blake was the latest victim of police brutality, the best paid female athlete in the world last year showed her true value by backing her words with action.
While the Bucks refused to play a first-round play-off game in a sealed-off Disney World, the 2018 US Open champion stepped out of her tennis bubble by stating her wish to withdraw from her semi-final at the Western & Southern Open in New York.
While football here debates walking off over racist abuse, Osaka and the Bucks took control
by refusing to walk on. “Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman,” said the Japanese star, whose father is Haitian.
Three more NBA playoffs were postponed last night but after a day of frantic talks, Osaka yesterday agreed to play her semi-final against Belgian Elise Mertens in Queens today.
She felt she had made her point.
In a statement, Osaka said: “As you know, I pulled out of the tournament in support of racial injustice and continued police violence. I was (and am) ready and prepared to concede the match to my opponent. “However, after lengthy consultation with the WTA and USTA, I have agreed to play. They offered to postpone all matches until Friday and in my mind that brings more attention to the movement.” Baseball and soccer matches were also cancelled on Wednesday night with protests going to a new level as the political temperature rose a little more than two months before the US Presidential election. Basketball star LeBron James, above, tweeted of the situation: “**** THIS MAN !!!! WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT”.