Osaka And Townsend Dinner For Black Tennis Players Caused ‘Bit of a Stir’ on Social Media
Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend are making headlines at the French Open, not only for their success on the court, but for creating a space off the court for Black tennis players to gather, connect and reflect.
Before the tournament began, Osaka and Townsend organized a dinner for Black players, an event that quickly drew attention after photos and posts circulated on social media.
Townsend said the reaction was telling.
“It caused a bit of a stir, which I thought was pretty funny because for so long we have been the ones that are the minority in a sport where we kind of stick out,” Townsend said. “And now coming together all of a sudden seems like a problem.”
Townsend said the response to her Instagram post was mostly positive, but some comments criticized the dinner as “segregation,” while others questioned when players from other racial backgrounds would hold similar gatherings.
Townsend pushed back by quoting rapper Finesse2tymes, saying, “It’s cool when they do it; it’s a problem when I do it.”
In her own post about the dinner, Townsend also quoted Tupac Shakur: “Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice; I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots.”
The dinner was attended by Osaka, Townsend, 2025 French Open champion Coco Gauff, French player Gael Monfils, doubles specialist Asia Muhammad and retired player turned TV commentator Chris Eubanks.
For Osaka, the gathering was deeply personal.
“Growing up, there weren’t a lot of tennis players I could look up to that looked like me,” Osaka wrote in her Instagram post. “Being a minority in a sport like tennis is very isolating but the positive is that you keep tabs on everyone that … being blunt, is black. There’s a fellowship, a camaraderie.”
Osaka, who represents Japan and was born to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, said during a news conference that the room felt like family.
For Townsend, the dinner was more than a cultural moment.
“It wasn’t just about the culture, it was healing for us to all be able to speak about our journeys,” Townsend said.
The dinner also came during a French Open where the sport honored the 70th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s 1956 French Open win, the first Grand Slam title by a Black tennis player.
Gibson broke barriers years before that victory, becoming the first Black player to compete in a major tennis tournament when she was admitted in 1950 to what was then called the U.S. Nationals, now known as the U.S. Open.
After Gauff defeated Townsend in the first round of singles, a ceremony was held on Court Philippe Chatrier to honor Gibson’s legacy.
“Taylor and I playing on Philippe Chatrier is a direct product of Althea Gibson,” Gauff told the crowd. “It just shows the importance of breaking barriers in all aspects of the world, but especially in sport. I’m very grateful for people like her and Serena and Venus, Zina Garrison for paving the way for us.”
A Longtime Tradition In Black Tennis
The dinner was not without precedent. Katrina Adams, a former professional player and the first Black president of the U.S. Tennis Association, said she was glad to see an old tradition return.
Adams recalled that in the 1980s and 1990s, Black players held “Soul Food” Sunday during Wimbledon, gathering on the middle Sunday when there was no play.
“All the black players, got together, cooked, ate and enjoyed each other,” Adams wrote in a comment on Townsend’s post.
Adams said players including Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil hosted those gatherings for years before the tradition was passed on to Chanda Rubin, Venus and Serena Williams, MaliVai Washington and Roger Smith.
The point, then and now, was simple: community. For Black athletes in a sport where they have often been underrepresented, these spaces offer support, connection and a reminder that history did not make room easily. Players made room for each other.
Osaka And Townsend Build Friendship Beyond Tennis
Osaka and Townsend were not always close. Townsend said their friendship grew after Osaka unexpectedly invited her on a vacation to Turks and Caicos last year.
Townsend said she did not know why Osaka invited her, but the trip changed their relationship.
“It ended up being the best time and Naomi and I floated in the ocean on a surfboard for three hours and talked to each other,” Townsend said. “We’ve been friends ever since.”
Both women are also mothers, another connection Townsend said has helped deepen their bond.
“We share a lot of the same values and principles and morals of how we go about life and how we want to treat people and what type of mothers that we want to be for our children,” Townsend said. “It goes way beyond tennis.”
On the court, Osaka reached the fourth round in Paris for the first time in her career, while Townsend and doubles partner Katerina Siniakova advanced to the quarterfinals as the top seeded doubles team.
Off the court, their dinner became a reminder that fellowship among Black athletes is not new, not unusual and certainly not a threat. It is part of a long tradition of finding space, sharing stories and carrying the legacy forward.
