Taking a supporting stance against racial inequality and social injustice the main Tennis bodies – USTA, ATP Tour, and WTA decided to support the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign and delayed the semi finals by a day till Friday, August 28.
Naomi Osaka, Johana Konta, Victoria Azarenka and Elise Mertens qualified for the semi finals of WSO-Western & Southern Open 2020, which were originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, 27th August.
Prior to organisers announcement, World No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan had already informed WTA about her decision to withdraw from her semi final match against Elise Mertens. After which she publicly announced her withdrawal as a support of the outcry against the racial injustice following shooting of the black man Jacob Blake by white policemen.
Upon the Semis being delayed by WTA as respect for the occasion, Naomi Osaka has decided to play the re scheduled semi-final match on Friday.
The following two semi finals were set to be played on 27th August which will now be played on Friday, 28th August:
1. Naomi Osaka, Japan vs Elise Mertens, Belgium
2. Johana Konta, England vs Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
Earlier the results of the quarter finals matches were:
| Players | Results | ||
| 1 | Johana Konta vs Maria Sakkari | 6-4, 6-3 | |
| 2 | Victoria Azarenka vs Ons Jabeur | 7-6, 6-2 | |
| 3 | Elise Mertens vs Jessica Pegula | 6-1, 6-3 | |
| 4 | Naomi Osaka vs Anett Kontaveit | 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 |
The 3 top ranked holders (mentioned below) of the WSO have already been knocked out of the tournament:
- Karolina Pliskova
- Sofia Keninhave
- Serena Williams
