Naomi Osaka during her victory at the US Open in New York on September 12, 2020. -

Seth Wenig / AP / SIPA

Bad news is piling up for Roland-Garros.

Caught up by the reality of the Covid, with a maximum of 5,000 spectators per day, the Paris tournament will have to do without Naomi Osaka, who announced her package Thursday for persistent pain in the thigh.

“Unfortunately, I won't be able to play at Roland Garros this year.

My thigh still hurts and I won't have time to prepare for clay, ”the US Open winner wrote on her Twitter.

"These two tournaments were too close to each other for me to be able to chain them this year," added the one who won her third Grand Slam tournament on September 12 in New York.

❤️ pic.twitter.com/W0tLuvib5U

- NaomiOsaka 大 坂 な お み (@naomiosaka) September 18, 2020

2nd victory at the US Open

Two weeks separate these two Majors, Roland-Garros having been rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic which has put the season under cover for four months or even six for some players, like Osaka, who have not made their return to the competition that end of August.

The Japanese, 3rd in the world, first played in the Cincinnati tournament, relocated to the bubble of Flushing Meadows, managing to climb to the final.

But she gave up arguing, injured in the left adductor, to preserve her physique and her chances for the US Open which started in stride.

It took him well, since two weeks later, she registered her name for the second time in the New York Major, beating the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the final.

She had already won in 2018 and then won the 2019 Australian Open.

Activism against racism

At 22, Osaka has also taken on another dimension outside of the courts through his activism in the fight against racism.

After the death of Jacob Blake, who was shot several times in the back by a police officer in Wisconsin, she followed the boycott movement launched by the Milwaukee Bucks team during the NBA play-offs, and refused to play his Cincinnati semi-final.

The WTA circuit and the organizers of the tournament having shown solidarity in their turn by canceling the matches scheduled for that day, she finally reversed her decision.

At the US Open, she maintained her desire to raise awareness in the hushed microcosm of tennis by wearing, when she arrived on the court during each of her seven matches, a mask with the name of a black person victim of police violence in the United States.

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