NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka stepped into the Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a mask that read "Elijah McClain" ahead of her second-round U.S. Open victory on Wednesday, harnessing tennis's global appeal in her fight for racial justice. The 22-year-old's mask honored McClain, the 23-year-old Black man who died after a violent encounter with Aurora, Colorado, police officers in 2019. "I think tennis - people watch it all around the world," she said in a televised interview after her match. "Things that we think (are) common names (are) probably not common overseas." She had previously worn a mask honoring Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed by police officers who burst into her apartment in March, at her first-round match on Monday, and said she had seven different masks with her at the tournament.

Source: International New York Times September 03, 2020 03:33 UTC