Naomi Osaka Responds to Messages from Ahmaud Arbery's, Trayvon Martin's Families
Naomi Osaka received thank-you messages from the families of Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin for honoring their memories during the U.S. Open by wearing customized masks featuring their names.
"For me, it's a bit surreal. It's extremely touching that they would feel touched by what I'm doing. For me, I feel like what I'm doing is nothing. It's a speck of what I could be doing," Osaka told reporters Tuesday.
"It was really emotional. ... I'm really grateful, and I'm really humbled."
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed in February after three white men chased him in cars while he was jogging in Glynn County, Georgia.
Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot and killed Travon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012.
Osaka has also worn masks to honor the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed in Minneapolis police custody in May after an officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds on a city street.
Louisville police officers shot and killed Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in March after serving a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her house.
Osaka beat Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4 to make the semifinals, where she will face No. 28 Jennifer Brady.
The winner of that matchup will face the victor from the other side of the bracket, which is in the quarterfinal stage and features matches between Serena Williams and Tsvetana Pironkova and Victoria Azarenka and Elise Mertens.
