Naomi Osaka won her second U.S. Open singles title Saturday with a message for social justice. The 22-year-old tennis star defeated Victoria Azarenka and, as a show of how she felt about her win, dropped to the “surface, lying on her back, hands folded and eyes blinking as she gazed up through the open roof—all alone— for nearly 20 seconds.
“I was thinking about all the times I’ve watched the great players sort of collapse onto the ground and look up into the sky,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to see what they saw.”
The world began to notice Osaka in 2018, as one to watch as the next rising talent on the court. Already proving what a great player she is, Osaka has taken on “some of the toughest tennis players in the world,” but with her lasting win came the opportunity to wear seven different masks, each with names to “honor Black victims of violence.” The gesture “motivated her.”
“I wanted more people to say more names.” For the game Saturday, her mask displayed the name of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy shot and killed in Cleveland by a white law enforcement officer in 2014.
“The point is to make people start talking,” Osaka said at the award ceremony regarding keeping the names of these victims on the minds of everyone.
In a much different setting than in 2018 due to the pandemic and fewer spectators, Osaka, whose father is Haitian and mother Japanese, represents “Japan and is based in the United States.” Her victory in Ashe Stadium was taken in more and without fans’ criticism from a couple of years ago when “she defeated tennis legend Serena Williams in a tumultuous straight-set match. An event turned ugly when Williams clashed in Arthur Ashe Stadium with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who called three code-of-conduct violations against Williams.” The crowd’s boos were a mixture of being “unclear on the rules and upset treatment of Williams.”
This time, Osaka was able to savor the moment her way and show the world that her win was not only about the sport of tennis but the rights of families fighting for social justice each day in America.
By BSM Team
Photo Credit: Getty Images
