Naomi Osaka is continuing to speak out amid the Black Lives Matter protests.
Osaka, who withdrew from the Western & Southern Open semifinals Wednesday in protest after Jacob Blake was shot multiple times by police in front of his kids, wore a Breonna Taylor tribute mask to her first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday.
The sportswoman made a stand as she arrived at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, saying, according to CNN: “I’m aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesn’t know Breonna Taylor’s story.
“Maybe they’ll Google it or something. For me, just spreading awareness. I feel like, the more people know the story, then the more interesting or interested they’ll become in it.”
.@naomiosaka has 7 masks ready with different names for a potential run at the #USOpen. pic.twitter.com/jmARabKhae
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2020
A statement was made when @naomiosaka walked onto Ashe with a Breonna Taylor mask last night. #USOpenpic.twitter.com/Ubxwst54kl
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2020
Osaka, who won her opening match against Misaki Doi, said she plans on wearing six more masks throughout the tournament to honour other victims of police brutality.
“It’s quite sad that seven masks isn’t enough for the amount of names, so hopefully I’ll get to the finals and you can see all of them,” she shared.
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2020
Taylor was a 26-year-old EMT who was killed on March 13 in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, by Louisville Metro Police. She and boyfriend Kenneth Walker were in their own home when police made a late-night raid on the wrong address, looking for someone who had been taken into police custody hours earlier. Taylor was shot eight times.