<p>Japan's Naomi Osaka withdrew from her WTA Western & Southern Open semi-final match Thursday in New York to protest the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Wisconsin.</p>.<p>Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, was to have faced Belgian Elise Mertens in the same quarantine bubble where the US Open will be played starting Monday.</p>.<p>"Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis," Osaka posted in a statement on Twitter.</p>.<p>"I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction."</p>.<p>Her move comes in the wake of African-American Jacob Blake being shot on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks boycotting their scheduled playoff game Wednesday.</p>.<p>All NBA playoff games Wednesday were eventually postponed and Major League Baseball and Women's NBA clubs followed suit before Osaka became the trailblazer in tennis.</p>.<p>"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka said.</p>.<p>"I'm exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I'm extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again.</p>.<p>"When will it ever be enough?"</p>.<p>Blake was shot seven times in the back by police as he attempted to get into a car containing his three children.</p>.<p>Protests have erupted in Kenosha since the shooting, with two people killed after a man opened fire on demonstrators with an assault rifle on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Issues of police violence and systemic racism were raised in May by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a Minneapolis police officer held his knee upon Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes.</p>
<p>Japan's Naomi Osaka withdrew from her WTA Western & Southern Open semi-final match Thursday in New York to protest the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Wisconsin.</p>.<p>Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, was to have faced Belgian Elise Mertens in the same quarantine bubble where the US Open will be played starting Monday.</p>.<p>"Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis," Osaka posted in a statement on Twitter.</p>.<p>"I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction."</p>.<p>Her move comes in the wake of African-American Jacob Blake being shot on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks boycotting their scheduled playoff game Wednesday.</p>.<p>All NBA playoff games Wednesday were eventually postponed and Major League Baseball and Women's NBA clubs followed suit before Osaka became the trailblazer in tennis.</p>.<p>"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka said.</p>.<p>"I'm exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I'm extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again.</p>.<p>"When will it ever be enough?"</p>.<p>Blake was shot seven times in the back by police as he attempted to get into a car containing his three children.</p>.<p>Protests have erupted in Kenosha since the shooting, with two people killed after a man opened fire on demonstrators with an assault rifle on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Issues of police violence and systemic racism were raised in May by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a Minneapolis police officer held his knee upon Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes.</p>