Osaka though returned to court and claimed a 6-2, 7-5 win in over two hours to advance to her first final of the season and for the former World No.1, she didn't think it would attract as much attention as it did and that she didn't get a lot of sleep as a result.

"I honestly didn't think it would even be that big of a deal," Osaka said in an interview on ESPN after the match. "I thought I would just withdraw and make a statement. But then I got a call from Steve Simon and he said he was fully supportive so I'm really grateful for that."

"After my quarters match I saw everything the NBA was doing," Osaka continued. "Then I felt like I also needed to raise my voice, too. So I called Stu, my agent, and we talked it over. Then we called the WTA, and they said that they would love to support and they were going to push play back a day. So I put out my statement.

"I feel like this is where everyone gets confused, because I didn't say I was going to withdraw from the tournament. I just said I wasn't going to play the next day.

"But, yeah, I feel like it's been kind of hectic, and I honestly haven't been able to get that much sleep yesterday. So I'm glad I was able to win today."

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