Naomi Osaka said Thursday she will play in her rescheduled semifinal at the Western and Southern Open, a day after the Japanese world No. 10 announced she would sit out the match in solidarity with U.S. protests over racial injustice and police brutality. In consultation with the WTA and the U.S. Tennis Association, "I have agreed at their request to play on Friday," Osaka said in a statement through her management. "They offered to postpone all matches until Friday and in my mind that brings more attention to the movement." The tournament's sanctioning bodies, the women's WTA Tour and the men's ATP Tour, said on Thursday they had decided to pause the tournament, postponing the day's semifinal matches for both men and women to Friday to take "a stance against racial inequality and social injustice" in the United States. Naomi Osaka plays a shot during her victory over Anett Kontaveit in the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open in New York.(Kyodo)

NEW YORK - Osaka said she had decided to pull out of the tournament "in support of racial injustice and continued police violence. "I was (and am) ready and prepared to concede the match to my opponent," she said in her statement on Thursday.