0:54
- ABC News
- September 12, 2020
Victim's families applaud tennis player's activism
Osaka defeated Victoria Azarenka in Saturday's U.S. Open final.
0:54
The biracial tennis star's turn to on-court activism started before the U.S. Open's fortnight.
As the sports world came to a pause on Aug. 26 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Osaka said she would not play in the Western & Southern Open's semifinal match the following day in solidarity.
\"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,\" she posted on social media.
After her statement, organizers of the tournament paused play in order to reflect the national temperature. Now, she's become part of the association's social change movement.
\"Naomi Osaka is a champion in the truest sense of the word. Her abilities on the tennis court are matched by her willingness to stand up for what she believes in,\" Stacey Allaster, U.S. Open tournament director and U.S. Tennis Association chief executive, professional tennis, said Friday in a statement to ABC News.
\"She has used the spotlight as a platform for activism and awareness, and we applaud her and stand with her in her fight for social justice and equality,\" she added.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Sports/naomi-osaka-usopen-blm-masks-03-gty-llr-200911_1599858484540_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Osaka's newfound voice was not always a part of the champion -- when the world first met her, she was shy, soft-spoken and thrust into one of the most talked-about moments in U.S. Open history.
Osaka's historic win against Serena Williams at the 2018 U.S. Open Final was marred in controversy after Williams received a series of violations that led to a passionate argument between the 23-time grand slam champion and the chair umpire.
Before receiving the championship trophy, her first victory in a major, Osaka sat on court with a towel over her head and was emotional during the ceremony.
After that win, Osaka told ABC News that Williams comforted her and told the younger player -- who grew up watching the tennis icon -- that she was proud of the new champion.
Since then her game has developed as well as her stature as a global tennis star.
Blake, once a top-five player in the world, highlighted how that maturation process for players, who enter the sport at an early age, can impact how they use their platforms.
\"When superstars, especially in women's tennis -- they come on the scene so young that they're still maturing,\" he said. \"Naomi Osaka already had pressure at a young age, and she's adding more pressure as she gets older, but now it's brought on; she's doing it herself.\"
\"Honestly, I'm more of a follower than a leader,\" she said last week. \"I like to follow things. I was just waiting and waiting, and then I realized I would have to be the one to take the step.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Sports/osaka-trayvon_hpEmbed_20200911-230114_3x2_384.jpg\")
Castile believes the energy around the movement is helping Osaka in the competition.
\"Not only are the names of Philando Castile, George Floyd and others standing behind her, she also has the ancestors' power behind her,\" he said.
\"I just want to say thank you to Naomi Osaka for representing Trayvon Martin on your customized mask,\" Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, said in a taped message that aired on ESPN. \"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, continue to do well, continue to kick butt at the U.S. Open.\"
The 17-year-old Martin was killed in 2012 during an encounter with George Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch crime captain. Zimmerman was later found not guilty of second-degree murder.
Osaka reacted to the message from Fulton in a tweet, writing, \"I tried to hold it in on set but after watching these back I cried so much. The strength and the character both of these parents have is beyond me.\"
I often wonder if what I’m doing is resonating and reaching as many people as I hope. That being said, I tried to hold it in on set but after watching these back I cried so much. The strength and the character both of these parents have is beyond me. Love you both, thank you ❤️ https://t.co/FSDLtWNJDr
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) September 9, 2020
Blake views Osaka's actions as the start of a new generation taking a stand in tennis.
\"I think she's growing up. ... I'm proud of her. I'm also proud of the younger generation in general, because it seems like they're open-minded,\" he said.
At the moment, Osaka said she does not plan on continuing these types of social justice statements, but she noted that they are actions that cannot be planned out.
\"For me, I feel like I'm just doing what I think I'm emotionally capable to do. I felt like this was right for me at this time,\" Osaka told ABC News on Thursday.
\"Naomi is the positive change and hope that world needs right now,\" Fulton told ABC News. \"This issue is bigger than black and white.\"
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