{"id":191,"date":"2020-09-14T20:49:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T10:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=177341"},"modified":"2020-10-13T18:44:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T18:44:16","slug":"naomi-osaka-black-lives-matter-masks-us-open","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/naomi-osaka-black-lives-matter-masks-us-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka Had Seven Masks For Seven Games And She Wore Them All"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 04: Naomi Osaka of Japan wears a protective face mask with the name, Ahmaud Arbery stenciled on it after winning her Women’s Singles third round match against Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine on Day Five of the 2020 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 04, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City. Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African-American man, was pursued and fatally shot while jogging in Glynn County, Georgia. (Photo by Al Bello\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two years after Naomi Osaka’s emotional US Open win to Serena Williams, the 22-year-old once again took home the trophy after defeating 31-year-old Victoria Azarenka in the grand slam finals on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite her incredible performance on the court (it looked like it was Azarenka\u2019s game until the second half when Osaka fought her way back), Osaka\u2019s main aim was clear: to show her support of the Black Lives Matter Movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For every one of her seven matches, Osaka wore a different face mask with names of seven Black people killed in America by either police or racists: Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile, and finally, Tamir Rice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 12: Naomi Osaka of Japan walks on court before her Women’s Singles final match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Day Thirteen of the 2020 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 12, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the final match, Osaka\u2019s partner, musician YBN Cordae, sat in the front row with a t-shirt reading \u2018Defund the Police\u2019 and behind Osaka was a tribute to the movement: a row of t-shirts with Black faces and the message, \u2018Bringing Black faces to the front.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Osaka won, reporter Tom Rinaldi asked her about the message she wanted to send with her masks. In response, Osaka said, \u201cWell, what was the message that you got, was more the question.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the point was to make people start talking,\u201d she continued.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by \u5927\u5742\u306a\u304a\u307f \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@naomiosaka)<\/a> on