[ad_1]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – At the end of a week, when Naomi Osaka brought the fight for racial justice to the front door of sport, it seemed fitting that another great tennis pioneer, Billie Jean King, saluted her silent successor on her ” compassion, strength and leadership. ” . “
King was not the only one who was deeply impressed by the actions of the quiet young champion who announced that she would forfeit her semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open in protest of police brutality and racial injustice in the US.
The 76-year-old King, so remarkable in his own lifelong fight for women’s equality, recognized a kindred spirit when he told Reuters how he felt that the fiercely determined 22-year-old was now following an honorable sports tradition.
“It has been more than 50 years since athletes like Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith and the original 9 of women’s tennis stood up and used their sport, their voices and their actions to change humanity,” King said by mail. electronic.
“The baton has been passed and Naomi has accepted it with open arms and that shows compassion, strength and leadership.”
On Twitter, Osaka had grabbed that witness with his statement that “seeing the continued genocide of black people at the hands of the police is making me honestly sick to my stomach.”
His withdrawal from the semi-final, virtually unheard of in the modern era of tennis, led organizers to postpone Thursday’s matches, days after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man in front of three of his sons in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“His actions this week were a catalyst for change,” King said. “She is putting people first, being authentic and leading. I love what Naomi and her generation of athletes are doing today.”
The Osaka crowd, which finally won its semi-final on Friday but had to abandon the final with a hamstring injury on Saturday, generated great support throughout tennis and well beyond.
It all underscored the enormous influence Osaka now wields as a black woman competing for Japan, where she was born, but spent most of her formative years in the United States.
In May, she surpassed her idol, Serena Williams, as the world’s highest-earning female athlete, according to Forbes, while advocating for police brutality in the US.
“I don’t know what would have happened if Naomi Osaka wasn’t in the semifinals,” former US Open finalist Pam Shriver told Reuters.
“She has led the way, either with her racket or with her statements, in a really good modern leadership position.”
Osaka told reporters this week that she was not sure “if it’s a lightbulb or if there was a particular moment” that prompted her to act, but said it “has been in the works” for some time.
“I think she will be a future leader, I think she is a current leader,” James Blake, a former world number four who is now Director of the Miami Open Tournament, told Reuters.
“She is the one in my opinion who forced the hands of the ATP, WTA, USTA.”
In 2015, Blake, who is black, was approached without provocation or warning by an officer from the New York Police Department while on his way to the US Open, in what the NYPD said was a case of mistaken identity.
“Tennis now knows why Osaka did not participate,” he said. “I respect her very much.”
‘NOT AFRAID’
Osaka, who will play her first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday against Japan’s Misaki Doi, first rose to fame two years ago at Flushing Meadows, where she defeated 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams, a great sports pioneer.
Two years after her first Grand Slam title, Osaka now leads a new generation of activists in the sport that includes 16-year-old Coco Gauff.
“Players are using their voice more, especially Coco,” Osaka told reporters this week. “I feel like maybe this generation of tennis players won’t be too scared of the consequences of (saying) the things they have in mind.”
Osaka showed a deep sense of herself at a young age, her former coach Patrick Tauma told Reuters.
“(She) had a very strong character and could solve any problem, it could be physical, technical or mental,” said Tauma, who worked with her for a year when she was 15 years old. “She was strong, nobody scared her.” . “
Such qualities will serve the new pioneer well.
(Reported by Amy Tennery, Steve Keating, Rory Carroll, and Frank Pingue; edited by Mitch Phillips and Ian Chadband)
[ad_2]
