Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff have led the new generation of tennis players in calling for an end to racial discrimination and inequality in the United States. Osaka and Gauff are among the most recognizable tennis players in the world, and they have not been afraid to use their social media platforms to support the Black Lives Matter movement. After a video emerged showing a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for close to eight minutes, both the players took it upon themselves to call for an end to police brutality.
Osaka wore seven different masks at the US Open to protest police brutality
Osaka traveled to Minneapolis to participate in protests immediately after Floyd’s death. The Japanese star continuously engaged her social media followers and asked them to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Forbes Magazine recently named the Japanese as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, and she decided to use her influence to advocate for racial equality even though some of her commercial sponsors were scared that the 23-year-old star was being too vocal. Osaka ramped her activism at the Western and Southern Open when she refused to play her scheduled semifinal match to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man from the state of Milwaukee.
Gauff released a powerful video to show her support for the Black Lives Matter movement
Tournament organizers had to postpone the Western and Southern Open for one day after Osaka pulled out of her scheduled match. The Japanese star agreed to play the match once the tournament resumed, and she qualified for the final but lost to Victoria Azarenka. Osaka doubled down on her support for the Black Lives Movement at the US Open where she wore seven different facemasks displaying the names of victims of police brutality. The 23-year-old won the tournament and pledged that she would not back down in her fight for racial justice.
#blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/WEZEmtHH8k
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) May 29, 2020
On her part, Gauff released a powerful video to show her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The 16-year-old teenager wore a black hoodie in her TikTok video, and she sorrowfully looked into the camera before sharing pictures of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other African American victims of police brutality. To end the video, Gauff rhetorically asked whether she would be the next victim, and she declared that she would use her voice to condemn racial injustice. Despite her young age, Gauff demonstrated a high level of maturity in her approach to the divisive issue of police brutality in the United States. Many tennis fans have commended Gauff and Osaka for speaking up about racial injustice. Just like Billie Jean King and other women players used their voices to advocate for equal pay between male and female players in the sport, Osaka and Gauff are following their example in their quest to end racial inequality.
Naomi Osaka in 2020
Currently the world no.3, Osaka played her last match on the 12th of September when she overcame Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
At present, this year the Japanese has a compiled 16-3 win-loss record. Osaka conquered 1 title at the U.S. Open. The Japanese was the finalist in New York.
Gauff in Ostrava, ranking, and results in 2020
Currently ranked no.55, Gauff has a compiled 12-7 win-loss record in 2020. Cori is currently having a run in Ostrava where she toppled Jana Cepelova 6-1 6-0, Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-4 and Katerina Siniakova 7-5 6-4.
Cori Gauff will come up against Sabalenka in the 2nd round. The head to head is 1-0 for Gauff.
Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff played each other twice. The head to head is 1-1. The last time that they locked horns, Cori Gauff won 6-3 6-4 in the 3rd round in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 24th of January 2020.
