Japanese powerhouse Naomi Osaka made headlines at the start of the US Open on Monday, August 31 before making it to centre court and after her first-round victory as defeated fellow Japanese and 81st-ranked Misaki Doi 6-2, 5-7 6-2 in an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium
Osaka decided to cover her face with a mask, remembering Breonna Taylor a Black woman, who was shot by police. The highest-earning female athlete seeks to raise awareness on the racial injustices in America by wearing several masks during her stay in Flushing Meadows.
In a statement, the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open champion said the seven masks that she plans to wear in the event is not enough for the people that have been killed in America, as a result of their skin colour. She further said the world will get to witness it, when she gets to the final, as she hopes to get justice.
Osaka withdrew from the Western and Southern Open semifinal last week as she joined other athletes in different sports to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake a Black man, by a police officer in Wisconsin, and as a result of this, tournament organizers suspended play for a day, resulting to social awareness and unrest in America.
Osaka will now play Camila Giorgi, in the second round, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday.