ROME (AP) — Naomi Osaka looked comfortable in her opening match at the Italian Open, beating 45th-ranked Clara Burel 7-6 (2), 6-1 on Wednesday.
It was Osaka’s first victory over a top-50 player on clay since defeating Victoria Azarenka at the 2019 French Open.
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ROME (AP) — Naomi Osaka looked comfortable in her opening match at the Italian Open, beating 45th-ranked Clara Burel 7-6 (2), 6-1 on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal, of Spain, talks to journalists during a press conference at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
France's Clara Borel returns the ball to Japan's Naomi Osaka during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, pauses at the end of a game during her match against France's Clara Borel at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka waits to receive the ball during her match against France's Clara Borel at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to France's Clara Borel during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka serves the ball to France's Clara Borel during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Osaka was proud of the way she maintained her mental focus after dropping her serve while serving for the first set at 5-3.
“Just being able to hang in there and eventually close it on my terms is something that I’m very proud of myself for,” she said.
It’s also the first time that Osaka is playing in Rome since 2019 — when she reached the quarterfinals.
Osaka, who was formerly ranked No. 1 but is now No. 173 after a maternity break, served eight aces and produced 27 winners to her opponent’s 10. She’ll next face 19th-seeded Marta Kostyuk, who reached the final of a clay event in Stuttgart, Germany, recently.
Also, qualifier Bernarda Pera beat fellow American Caroline Dolehide 7-6 (6), 6-3 and will next face top-ranked Iga Swiatek; Magda Linette beat Zhu Lin 6-3, 6-2; Brenda Fruhvirtova rallied past Taylor Townsend 3-6, 6-2, 6-0; and Lesia Tsurenko eliminated Donna Vekic 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
In men’s action, Argentine-born Italian Luciano Darderi had strong crowd support in a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Denis Shapovalov on Campo Centrale; Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro eliminated Gael Monfils 6-2, 7-5; and Yoshihito Nishioka defeated Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
Rafael Nadal, the record 10-time Rome champion, opens against Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs on Thursday.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who is also back in Rome after a month out, is on the opposite half of the draw from Nadal. But second-ranked Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz both withdrew because of injuries.
Former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini also withdrew, saying he wasn’t ready to compete following a series of physical issues.
And the Italian federation announced that Camila Giorgi, an Italian who was once ranked as high as No. 26 and won a WTA 1000 event in Montreal 2021, has retired.
Rome is the last big warmup tournament before the French Open, which starts May 26.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Serbia's Novak Djokovic talks to journalists during a press conference at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Rafael Nadal, of Spain, talks to journalists during a press conference at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
France's Clara Borel returns the ball to Japan's Naomi Osaka during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, pauses at the end of a game during her match against France's Clara Borel at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka waits to receive the ball during her match against France's Clara Borel at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to France's Clara Borel during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Japan's Naomi Osaka serves the ball to France's Clara Borel during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday offered his most direct recognition of U.S. students' anguish over the Israel-Hamas war, telling graduates of historically Black Morehouse College that he heard their voices of protest and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza break his heart, too.
“I support peaceful nonviolent protest," he told students at the all-male college, some of whom wore Palestinian scarves known as keffiyehs around their shoulders on top of their black graduation gowns. "Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them.”
Biden said there's a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, "that's why I've called for an immediate cease-fire to stop the fighting" and bring home hostages still being held by Hamas after its militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The president's comments came near the end of a commencement address in which he also reflected on American democracy and his role in safeguarding it.
“It’s one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world,” Biden said. “There’s nothing easy about it. I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”
To date, Biden had limited his public comments around the protests on U.S. college campuses to upholding the right to peaceful protest.
The speech — and one he's giving later Sunday in Detroit — is part of a burst of outreach to Black constituents by the Democratic president, whose support among these voters has softened since their strong backing helped put him in the Oval Office.
Biden spent much of the approximately 30-minute speech focused on the problems at home. He condemned Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants and noted that the class of 2024 entered college during the COVID-19 pandemic and following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Biden said it was natural for them, and others, to wonder whether the democracy “you hear about actually works for you.”
“If Black men are being killed in the street. What is democracy?" he asked. "The trail of broken promises that still leave Black communities behind. What is democracy? If you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot.”
Protests over the war have roiled America's college campuses. Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony. At Morehouse, the announcement that Biden would be the commencement speaker drew some backlash among the faculty and those who oppose the president's handling of the war. Some Morehouse alumni circulated an online letter condemning administrators for inviting Biden and solicited signatures to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to rescind it.
The letter claimed that Biden’s approach to Israel amounted to support of genocide in Gaza and was out of step with the pacifism expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse’s most famous graduate.
The Hamas attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the territory.
In the end, there were no disruptions of Morehouse's commencement while applause for Biden mostly was subdued. At least seven graduates and one faculty member sat with their backs turned during Biden's address, and another student draped himself in a Palestinian flag. Protesters near the ceremony carried signs that said “Free Palestine,” “Save the Children'' and ”Ceasefire Now" as police on bikes kept watch.
On stage behind the president as he spoke, academics unfurled a Congolese flag. The African country has been mired in a civil war, and many racial justice advocates have called for greater attention to the conflict as well as American help in ending the violence.
During his speech, valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, of Chicago, said it was his duty to speak on the war in Gaza and recognize that both Palestinians and Israelis have suffered.
“From the comfort of our homes, we watch an unprecedented number of civilians mourn the loss of men, women and children, while calling for the release of all hostages," he said. “It is my stance as a Morehouse man, nay as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.” Biden stood and shook Fletcher's hand afterward.
Graduate Kingsley John said, “the temperature on campus was expected given we had the president of the United States come and speak.” John said he stood "in solidarity" with his classmates and that Biden "seemed to be reflective and open to hear the feedback.”
Morehouse awarded Biden an honorary doctor of laws degree. After accepting the honor, he joked that, “I’m not going home” as chants of “four more years” broke out in the audience. Biden then flew to Detroit to address thousands attending the local NAACP chapter's annual Freedom Fund dinner.
Georgia and Michigan are among a handful of states that will help decide November's expected rematch between Biden and Trump. Biden narrowly won Georgia and Michigan in 2020 and he needs strong Black voter turnout in Atlanta and Detroit if he hopes to repeat in November.
Biden spent part of the past week reaching out to Black constituents. He highlighted key moments in the Civil Rights Movement, from the 70th anniversary of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed racial segregation in public schools to the Little Rock Nine, who helped integrate a public school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. He also met with members of the “Divine Nine” Black fraternities and sororities.
Before the NAACP speech in Detroit, Biden visited with supporters at CRED Cafe on the city's east side, which is partly owned by former NBA players Joe and Jordan Crawford.
The speech will give Biden a chance to reach thousands of people in Wayne County, which historically has voted overwhelmingly Democratic but has shown signs of resistance to his reelection bid.
The county also holds one of the largest Arab American populations in the nation, predominantly in the city of Dearborn. Leaders there were at the forefront of an “uncommitted” effort that received over 100,000 votes in the state’s Democratic primary and spread across the country.
A protest rally and march against Biden’s visit took place in Dearborn in the afternoon.
In Detroit, over 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Huntington Place hours before Biden was set to speak there. Monitored by a large police presence, the protesters held flags and signs and chanted while marching back and forth in front of the event center. Dinner guests had to walk directly past the protesters to enter.
Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, and Colleen Long and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
People protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A person protests near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A person protests near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A person holds a sign during a protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest with police presence near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
President Joe Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden waves to the audience after speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden receives an honorary degree at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
President Joe Biden reacts to alumni in the crowd after speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, right, congratulates valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden listens before speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden receives an honorary degree after speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
President Joe Biden listens before speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
An attendee stands with their back to President Joe Biden as Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher shows his mortarboard with a protest image representing a Palestinian flag as President Joe Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, left, stands with valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
An attendee stands with their back to President Joe Biden as Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
President Joe Biden gestures after speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
President Joe Biden listens before speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden claps before speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden bows his head in prayer before speaking to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, right, listens as Morehouse College President David A. Thomas speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A tassel hangs from a mortarboard as graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Jan. 11, 2022, in Atlanta. Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University Sunday, May 19, 2024, giving the Democrat a key spotlight on one of the nation's preeminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks reelection against Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
President Joe Biden, right, greets a young girl as he speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, right, greets Stacey Abrams at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks with supporters at Mary Mac's Tea Room, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, third from right, poses with alumni of Morehouse College including Montgomery, Ala. Mayor Steven Reed, from left, Birmingham, Ala. Mayor Randall Woodfin, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., and John Eaves, former chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, second from right, is greeted by alumni of Morehouse College including Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., from left, Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden, second from right, is greeted by alumni of Morehouse College including Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., from left, Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
