The Baseline Awards: Highest off-court impact

The 2020 season has been no other in tennis. This year’s Baseline Awards look at the standout performers and moments during an unusual year. (Photos: Getty Images)

What’s more important, winning a Grand Slam title or effecting societal change?

For Naomi Osaka, 2020 saw her accomplish both. Entering the year as a two-time major champion and former world No. 1, the 23-year-old joined the ranks of such legendary athletes as Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe by making the fight against racial injustice a priority.

On the court, Osaka got off to a fairly slow start, marked by a third-round loss at the Australian Open, where she was the defending champion. After dropping a match during the Fed Cup qualifiers, the chance to get back on track during the early hard-court swing was denied due to the shutdown caused by the global pandemic.

When play resumed, Osaka entered the New York “bubble,” with her eyes set on a second US Open title. Battling through to the quarterfinals, her run at the tournament was put on pause as she joined the protest led by athletes in the NBA not to play in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Wisconsin.

The tournament followed suit by suspending play, and when it resumed, Osaka won her semifinal match to reach her first final of the year. Unfortunately, she was unable to play due to a hamstring injury.

With protests taking place across the nation, Osaka decided to make a statement in support: When she took the court for her first-round US Open match, she wore a face mask with the name of Breonna Taylor, the young Black woman shot and killed by police in Kentucky.

For each subsequent round, her face mask was adorned with the name of a different victim of racial injustice. While attention grew surrounding her form of protest, it didn’t distract her from competing. Coming to the tournament with seven masks for seven matches, she played on, showing them all, as she defeated Victoria Azarenka in the final for her third career Grand Slam title.

While she shut down play on 2020 after her triumph in New York, Osaka hasn’t stopped in her battle to bring about change. And as she pursues more accomplishments on the court, her off-court endeavors could end up being even more impressive.