Naomi Osaka stunned the tennis world after refusing to compete on Thursday to protest against the widespread racism in the US. However, it was also the Japanese sensation to remain surprised after the tours decided to stop the semifinals in New York for 1 day. This allowed Naomi to still compete on Friday while giving a strong signal to the outside world that tennis is behind the #blacklivesmatter movement.
Naomi played a great semifinal in New York against an in-form Elise Mertens to beat the Belgian in straight sets and set up a final against Vika Azarenka.
Why Naomi Osaka was surprised
In the press conference following the semifinal, Naomi admitted that she was deeply surprised by the move of the tours to comment:
“It’s definitely a bit eye-opening but in an odd way, because I only previously thought, like, the Big Three and Serena would have that type of power,”
“But also, at the same time, I recognize the fact that maybe the WTA and ATP wanted to do something like this but they needed a push from a player to do something like this? So maybe I was sort of there, you know, that one player.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MaRg6V-Fx
Osaka in New York, ranking, and results in 2020
At the moment ranked no.10, the Japanese has a 9-3 win-loss record in 2020. Osaka is competing in New York where she toppled Karolina Muchova 6-75 6-4 6-2, Dayana Yastremska 6-3 6-1, Anett Kontaveit 4-6 6-2 7-5 and Elise Mertens 6-2 7-65.
Naomi Osaka will come up against Azarenka in the final. The head to head is 2-1 for Osaka.
Osaka won 5 titles in her career: all of them conquered on hard courts. (See the list of her titles)
Serena Williams in 2020
Currently the world no.9, Serena Williams played her last match on the 25th of August when she lost to Maria Sakkari 5-7 7-65 6-1 in the 3rd round in New York.
This season Serena Williams has a 11-4 win-loss record. Serena Williams clinched 1 title in Auckland.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Osaka. The last time that they squared off, Serena Williams won 6-3 6-4 in the quarter in Toronto (Rogers Cup) in August 2019.
Here the highlights.
Djokovic in New York, ranking, and results in 2020
Now the world no.1, Djokovic has a 22-0 win-loss record in 2020. The Serbian is competing in New York where he bested Richard Berankis 7-62 6-4, Tennys Sandgren 6-2 6-4, Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-1 and Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6 6-4 7-60.
Novak Djokovic will face Raonic in the final. The head to head is 10-0 for Djokovic.
Djokovic has won 2 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open and in Dubai.
The Serbian won 80 titles in his career: 47 on hard courts, 14 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Rafael Nadal in 2020
Ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 29th of February when he defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 in the final in Acapulco to win his 85th career title.
At present, this year Rafael has a 13-3 win-loss record. The Spaniard clinched 1 title in Acapulco.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 55 times. The head to head is 29-26 for Djokovic. The last time that they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 6-2 7-64 in the final in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 12th of January 2020.
