Naomi Osaka made the most of her time in the U.S. Open bubble, using her platform to spread awareness about Black people who have been killed by police and others.
For all seven matches, she wore a different mask with a different name on the front, including Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile and Tamir Rice ahead of the final round against Victoria Azarenka reports BuzzFeed.
After winning the U.S. Open championship match for her third Grand Slam title on Saturday, the Haitian-Japanese tennis star was asked a question about the masks and gave an answer that was applauded by many according to HuffPost.
As she stood on the platform with her trophy, ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi asked her what message she wanted to send with the seven masks.
“Well, what was the message you got? [That] was more the question. I feel like the point is to make people start talking,” she said.
When Rinaldi asked a follow up question about the impact of her masks, Osaka said, “I’ve been inside the bubble so I’m not really sure what’s going on in the outside world. All I can tell is what’s going on on social media, and for me I feel like the more retweets it gets…that’s so lame, but you know, the more people talk about it.”
Source: Naomi Osaka Challenges Reporter Who Asks About Her Masks With A Powerful Question
