Though Osaka has recently made headlines for sitting out a match after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, and donning masks at the US Open each honouring a Black life lost, this isn't the first time she has stood in solidarity with the Black community.
In the wake of George Floyd's death, she flew to Minneapolis to join the protests and wrote an op-ed for Esquire on the importance of speaking up and fighting racism. "When I came back to Los Angeles, I signed petitions, I protested, and I donated, like many of us. But I kept asking myself what can I do to make this world a better place for my children? I decided it was time to speak up about systemic racism and police brutality," Osaka wrote. "Being 'not racist' is not enough. We have to be anti-racist."