Naomi Osaka pulls out of Western and Southern Open to protest racial injustice

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka on Thursday pulled out of Western and Southern Open to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, saying that watching the continued genocide of Black people is "making me sick to my stomach".

"Hello, as many of you are aware I was scheduled to play my semifinals match tomorrow. However, 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 said in a Twitter post.

"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. Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach. 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. When will it ever be enough? #JacobBlake, #BreonnaTaylor, #ElijahMcclain, #GeorgeFloyd," she added.

Osaka was scheduled to play Western and Southern Open semi-final match against Elise Mertens.

Earlier, the National Basketball Association (NBA) had also announced the postponement of the Game 5 of three different series after Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott their playoff game.

"The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks' decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today's three games - Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers - have been postponed. Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled," the NBA had said in a statement.

Announcing the decision to boycott their playoff game, Milwaukee Bucks had cited the 'horrendous' video of Blake, an African American man, being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha.

"Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we've seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha... We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable," Milwaukee Bucks had said in a statement.

( With inputs from ANI )