Naomi Osaka Honors Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin: US Open

A postmatch interview with Naomi Osaka on Tuesday featured video messages from the parents of Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin, two shooting victims whom Osaka has remembered on her face masks during the US Open.

Osaka, the No. 4 seed, joined the ESPN telecast not long after her 6-3, 6-4 win over Shelby Rogers.



"I just want to say thank you to Naomi Osaka for representing Trayvon Martin on your customized mask," Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, said. "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Continue to do well, continue to kick butt at the US Open."

Ahmaud Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., said: : "Thank you for the support on my family and God bless you for what you're doing and you're supporting our family with my son. And my family really, really appreciates that and God bless you."



Osaka was visibly struck by the messages, saying on the telecast: "I don't know. I feel like I'm a vessel, at this point, and in order to spread awareness and, hopefully, it's not going to dull the pain, but hopefully I can, you know, help with anything that they need."

Osaka later said at a news conference that she "was just trying really hard not to cry."

"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've doing is nothing. It's a speck of what I could be doing," Osaka said. "It was really emotional. ... I'm really grateful, and I'm really humbled."



Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man, was fatally shot after being pursued by armed white men in Georgia in February. Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, was unarmed when he was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in 2012.

Each time on court during the tournament, Osaka has worn a different mask in memory of a victim of racial injustice. On Tuesday, she wore the name of George Floyd on her mask.

A two-time Grand Slam champion, Osaka played powerful, clean tennis to outlast Rogers. But after the win, her message seemed more important than the match result.

"It means a lot; I feel like they're so strong, I'm not sure what I would be able to do if I was in their position," she said on the telecast about the families.

Serena Williams already was struggling to keep up in a fast-paced US Open semifinal Thursday when she stopped behind the baseline after a third-set point and leaned over. She held that pose for a bit, then clutched at her left ankle and asked for a trainer.

While Williams took a medical timeout for a tape job, her latest bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title seemingly slipping away, her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, sat in a sideline seat, eyes closed, calm and composed as can be.

After a delay of about five minutes, action resumed, and while Williams raised the force of her shots and volume of her shouts, it was Azarenka who finished off a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory to return to a major championship final for the first time since 2013.



Azarenka will face Naomi Osaka for the championship Saturday in a meeting between two-time major champions who have both been ranked No. 1 in the past.

"It's been seven years? That's my favorite number. I guess that's meant to be. I'm very grateful for this opportunity," said Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 and lost to Williams in the US Open finals each of those two years. "On the road to the final, you have to beat the best players and today was that day."

The loss left Williams just short of No. 24 yet again. She was beaten in the finals of four of the preceding seven Slams, including at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2019.