US Open: Osaka moves on to top 16 after doning third mask for Ahmaud Arbery;

 

Naomi Osaka has worn three masks at the US Open. Four to go.

In the third round of the 2020 US Open, Naomi Osaka made viewers and the media remember Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging in a South Georgia neighborhood when he was chased and killed by self-anointed vigilantes.

Osaka, has a mask for every match that features an African American who was killed by police or -- as in Aubeery's case --- by residents of Santilla Shores, Georgia,, who thought he was suspicious.

Osaka, of Haitian and Japanese heritage, has vowed to use her platform as a professional athlete to call atttentionto the systemic racial injustice that led to the deaths of African Americans. In the first two days of the US Open, Osaka's masks bore the names of Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain.

Last week, she staged a one-day walkout of the Southern & Western Open, eventually bowing out of the finals due to a hamstring injury.

Her protest led to the entire tournament pausing for a day before resuming play.

“(B)efore I am an athlete, I am a black woman,” she wrote on Twitter. “... I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis ... Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.”

“I’m proud of her,” tennis legend Billie Jean King told USA TODAY Sports in an email. “Naomi has chosen to use her platform and use it as a catalyst for change. She is a leader among today’s athletes – men and women – and she is speaking from her heart and her mind. It’s inspiring to watch a young leader step to the front and help humanity.”

Representing Japan even though she was raised in the U.S. and trains and lives in Florida, Osaka joined other professional athletes last week who boycotted their scheduled games to point out the need for police reform and for racial equity, aparked by the videotaped killing of George Floyd when police were arresting him.

In the third round, Osaka had a hard-fought match with 18-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who forced the match to three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.

With her win, Osaka advances to the round of the final 16 Sunday to face Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, who beat Magda Linette Friday, 6-3, 6-2.

Osaka, 22, says in preparation for the tourney, she had seven masks made, enough masks to go the finals if she wins the remainder of her matches.

While jogging, Arbery was fatally shot by two men, Gregory McMichael and his son Travis, who lived in the neighborhood. At first no arrests were made but only after a video of the chase and killing went viral and prompted widespread outrage and an investigation by state authorities, the two were arrested and charged for a homicide and aggravated assault in the killing of Arbery.

“None of these deaths had to happen," tweeted Osaka. "I want people to know the names.”