NEW YORK: Naomi Osaka brought seven facemasks to the U.S. Open to highlight racial injustice and on the basis of her impressive showing the quarter-finals on Tuesday, Flushing Meadows looks destined to see them all.
Before the 6-3 6-4 victory over Shelby Rogers, the former champion unveiled the fifth mask emblazoned with the name of George Floyd, the Black American who died in police custody in Minneapolis in May.
Two more remain in Osaka’s kit bag for the semi-final against American Jenny Brady and potentially her second U.S. Open final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.
“I just have a feeling,” she told ESPN, explaining how she decided which mask to wear.
“I feel like I’m a vessel in order to spread awareness.” The highlighting of the issue has taken a little of the focus away from what has been a highly impressive tournament for the fourth seed as she has made her way to her third Grand Slam semi-final.
On Tuesday, she made just eight unforced errors across two sets against a player with some big shots who she had never beaten before. “She played pretty flawless,” said Rogers. “I think she can go a couple more if she wants.
“She’s more confident in who she is, what her game is, how to play.”
Osaka, who at 22 already has two Grand Slam titles after winning the 2018 U.S. Open and backing up at the 2019 Australian Open, said she had spent a lot of time during the coronavirus shutdown thinking about how she wanted to approach her tennis.
“Honestly, the whole of 2019 after I won Australia, I just put too much pressure on myself, I wasn’t enjoying it,” Osaka said.
“When I (lost) against Coco (Gauff) in Australia this year, I was just so stressed out. So I just thought to myself, I’m just going to take quarantine to mentally evaluate what I want to do when I come back.
“When you come out on Ashe, there’s a Billy Jean King quote ‘pressure is a privilege’, and I feel it’s unbelievably true.”
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka’s sharp serving and superior return game helped her past American Shelby Rogers 6-3 6-4 and into the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Tuesday as the Japanese continues her quest for a second title at Flushing Meadows.
Osaka, who was 0-3 lifetime against Rogers coming into the match, broke at love to take a 5-3 lead in the first set where Rogers hit 16 unforced errors to Osaka’s five and held serve to claim the set.
The fourth seeded Osaka broke again early in the second set for a 2-1 lead and sealed the win when Rogers dumped a forehand into the net on match point for her 28th unforced error.
“Honestly, I felt like she had the upper hand because I’d never beaten her and those memories are stuck in my head,” said the 22-year-old Osaka, who last faced Rogers in 2017.
“So, yeah, I consider this a little bit of revenge.”
Osaka once again had tape wrapped around her left thigh but said it was just as a precaution.
Despite the loss Rogers will hold her head high after the 27-year-old saved four match points to defeat Petra Kvitova to reach her first U.S. Open quarter-final.
Next up for Osaka is in-form American Jennifer Brady, who beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in straight sets earlier in the day.
“I think she’s a really amazing player, she has the variety that I wish I had so I’m a bit jealous,” Osaka said.
“But, yeah, she’s super nice and I think it’s going to be a really tough match and I think we’re both going to try our best.”
Osaka entered the court wearing a black mask with George Floyd’s name on it as part of her ongoing protest against racial injustice.
Floyd, a Black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis in May after an officer pinned him to the ground by his throat.
