Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

‘Before I’m an athlete, I’m a black woman’: Tennis star Naomi Osaka quits US tournament in protest over Jacob Blake shooting

‘Before I’m an athlete, I’m a black woman’: Tennis star Naomi Osaka quits US tournament in protest over Jacob Blake shooting

The former top-ranked women's tennis player, Naomi Osaka, has said she is withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open ahead of the semifinals to trigger discussion about the “genocide of black people at the hands of police.”

The former top-ranked women's tennis player, Naomi Osaka, has said she is withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open ahead of the semifinals to trigger discussion about the “genocide of black people at the hands of police.”
Osaka announced her decision to not play in the semifinal match on Thursday, where she was scheduled to meet Elise Mertens of Belgium, in a post on Twitter.


 The two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, who has become the highest paid female athlete in history after racking up $37.4 million last year, primarily due to lucrative sponsorship deals, said she does not expect “anything drastic to happen” with her refusal to play, but hopes to “get a conversation started in a majority white sport.”


“Watching the continuing genocide of black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.”

Osaka was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, but moved to the US when she was a toddler and has been living and training there since she was three-years old. She rose to international stardom after beating veteran Serena Williams to win the 2018 US Open and went on to win the Australian Open the same year.

Osaka used to have dual Japan-US citizenship, but confirmed in an interview last year that she would be giving up her US passport in order to play on Team Japan in the Tokyo Olympics.

The Japanese tennis star’s walkout follows a decision by the NBA to place all playoff matches scheduled for Wednesday on hold after the Milwaukee Bucks chose to boycott their bout with the Orlando Magic in a protest over the Blake shooting.

Blake was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin police as they were responding to a domestic violence call. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has revealed that the officers attempted to subdue Blake with a Taser, but said that it did not stop him from opening the driver’s side door of his van to reach inside. In the aftermath of the incident, Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession which was then recovered inside the car.

Blake’s shooting has sparked a wave of violent unrest in the city, seeing businesses ransacked and burned and two people killed in a confrontation between an armed vigilante and rioters.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×