Osaka withdraws to protest racial injustice

Japanese tennis star reached semi-final, calls move ‘a step in the right direction’

LONDON:

Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday in protest against racial injustice hours after the two-times Grand Slam champion had booked her spot in the semi-finals of the US Open tune-up event.

The 22-year-old Japanese joins similar protests by athletes in the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Sunday in Wisconsin.

It is unclear if Osaka will reconsider her decision after organisers suspended play for Thursday as a mark of protest. The semi-finals will now be played on Friday, which is scheduled to be the final day of the event.

"Before I am a athlete, I am a Black woman," she said on Twitter. "And as a Black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis."

Osaka defeated Anett Kontaveit 4-6 6-2 7-5 to reach the semis where she was scheduled to face Belgian Elise Mertens, who needed just over an hour to defeat qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-3 and reach her first Premier 5 semi-final.

By pulling out of the semi-finals Osaka is giving up the chance to sharpen her game further ahead of the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 US Open Grand Slam but she said it was important for tennis to address the issue of racial injustice.

"I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction," said Osaka.

British number one Johanna Konta punched her ticket to the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 win over Greece's Maria Sakkari, who entered the match fresh off a win over Serena Williams for one of the biggest wins of her career.

A tight first set ultimately came down to one break of serve, which Konta converted in the third game. Konta broke two more times in the second, including in the final game where she secured the win after a Sakkari double fault.

Up next for Konta, who is rounding into form with each match, is a clash with former world number one Victoria Azarenka, a 7-6 6-2 winner over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

The tournament, the final tune-up before the US Open, is being played at Flushing Meadows in New York this year instead of Cincinnati due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Agut awaits Djokovic in semis

Novak Djokovic cruised past Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-1 on Wednesday to reach a record-equalling eighth Western & Southern Open semi-final where he will face Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

The semi-finals will be played on Friday, scheduled as the final day of the event, after organisers joined other sporting events in suspending play on Thursday in protest against racial injustice.

World number one Djokovic took advantage of a series of errors by Struff to grab control of the match and closed out the 62-minute encounter with a love service break to extend his unbeaten run to 24 matches.

"It was great. I started a little bit tight in my opening couple of service games ... Ever since I made that break at the beginning of the first set, I never looked back," said Djokovic.

"I really played very aggressive whenever I had the chance and I was going for my shots."

With the win, Djokovic tied Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Roger Federer and Bill Talbert's semi-final totals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Earlier, Bautista Agut produced a stunning comeback to defeat third seed Daniil Medvedev 1-6 6-4 6-3 and reach his maiden semi-final in the event, which is being played at Flushing Meadows, New York instead of Cincinnati due to Covid-19.

Bautista Agut's chances of victory appeared distant after the 24-year-old Russian cruised through the first set and had three break point chances early in the second.

But the 32-year-old Bautista Agut began to play freer, charging the net and serving with more confidence.

"After the first set, I was thinking a lot of bad things," he said with a laugh. "I had to fight a lot in the second set. It was a really tough match."