Osaka and Townsend's dinner for Black players at French Open caused 'bit of a stir' on social media - Dining and Cooking

PARIS (AP) — Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend are piling up wins on the court at the French Open.

Their success comes after drawing attention off the court for organizing a dinner for Black players before the tournament started.

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Coco Gauff of the U.S. serves to Anastasia Potapova of Austria during their third round women’s singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Coco Gauff of the U.S., backgroung, and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. hug after their first round women’s singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts as she plays against Laura Siegemund of Germany during their first round women’s singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Taylor Townsend of the U.S. returns to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their first round women’s singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Naomi Osaka of Japan prepares for the third round women’s singles tennis match against Iva Jovic of the U.S. at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

“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 about chatter on social media. “And now coming together all of a sudden seems like a problem.”

While Townsend said the reaction from her Instagram post about the evening was “mostly positive,” she said there was also online criticism.

Several comments on Osaka’s and Townsend’s posts suggested the dinner as “segregation,” while another asked, “When are the white, Latino, and Asian parties?”

It all prompted Townsend to quote a lyric from the rapper Finesse2tymes: “He said, ‘It’s cool when they do it; it’s a problem when I do it.’”

Keeping in the rap theme, Townsend quoted Tupac Shakur in her post about the evening: “Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice; I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots.”

Besides Osaka and Townsend, the other attendees of the dinner were 2025 French Open champion Coco Gauff, retiring Frenchman Gael Monfils, doubles specialist Asia Muhammad and retired player turned TV commentator Chris Eubanks.

“Growing up, there weren’t a lot of tennis players I could look up to that looked like me,” Osaka — whose father is from Haiti and mother is from Japan — said in her Instagram post about the dinner. “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.”

“I felt like everyone in that room was a part of my family,” Osaka — who represents Japan but grew up mostly in the U.S. — added in a news conference.

For Townsend, “it wasn’t just about the culture, it was healing for us to all be able to speak about our journeys.”

While Gauff’s title defense ended with a loss to Anastasia Potapova on Saturday, Osaka has reached the fourth round in Paris for the first time in her career while showing off her taste for fashion with her elaborate walk-on outfits. American player Townsend and Czech partner Katerina Siniakova — the top-seeded doubles team — have won their opening three matches and are into the quarterfinals.

Gauff beat Townsend in the opening round of singles, after which a ceremony was held on Court Philippe-Chatrier to honor the 70th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s 1956 French Open victory — the first Grand Slam title for a Black tennis player.

Gibson was also the first Black player to compete at a major tennis tournament when she fought with the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association just to get admitted in 1950 to what was then called the U.S. Nationals — now the U.S. Open.

“Taylor and I playing on Philippe-Chatrier is a direct product of Althea Gibson,” Gauff told the crowd after beating Townsend. “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 (Williams), Zina Garrison for paving the way for us.”

The dinner recalls how going back to the Harlem Renaissance, Black athletes, entertainers, musicians and writers held salons and dinners to celebrate their successes in a familial space. Such events were not meant as a slight to non-Blacks.

Katrina Adams, a former pro and then the first Black president of the U.S. Tennis Association, said she was pleased to see “an old tradition” re-emerging.

“In our era in the 80’s/90’s, we hosted ‘Soul Food’ Sunday on the middle Sunday of Wimbledon, when there was no play,” Adams said in a comment on Townsend’s post. “All the black players, got together, cooked, ate and enjoyed each other.”

Adams said players like Garrison and Lori McNeil hosted the Wimbledon gatherings for years and that she passed on the tradition to the likes of Chanda Rubin, the Williams sisters, MaliVai Washington and Roger Smith.

Townsend and Osaka hardly knew each other before Osaka surprised Townsend by inviting her on a vacation last year to the Turks and Caicos.

Townsend is an extrovert and Osaka a very quiet introvert.

“I didn’t know why she invited me,” Townsend said. “(But) 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. … We’ve been friends ever since.”

Both players are mothers.

“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.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — Buses carrying crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier streamed into Thailand’s seaside resort city Pattaya on Thursday, as part of a port call after a lengthy deployment to the Middle East.

The Lincoln was supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and its deployment included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days. Its lengthy deployment drew concerns last month about deteriorating mental health among the crew as well as shortages of key food supplies aboard.

The Navy downplayed any problems, and President Donald Trump commented that the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”

The ship has been deployed for a total of 286 days, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. Its total uninterrupted time at sea before Wednesday’s arrival in Chonburi province was 264 days.

The ship is expected to depart Thailand this weekend and continue its journey back to the U.S.

After clambering down from buses, laden with luggage, several service members told The Associated Press they were excited to be in Thailand. One sailor said “it was alright” when asked about the lengthy deployment, but declined to speak further.

Vendors and travel agents gathered outside the Hard Rock Hotel, the designated pickup and drop-off point for troops traveling from the Lincoln, which is docked nearby at Laem Chabang port.

They swarmed service members as they arrived, offering a range of souvenirs and services. Many sailors waved them away while waiting for their rides.

Two other ships from the Lincoln’s strike group are docked elsewhere in Thailand, with the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. at Chonburi’s Sriracha port and the cruiser USS Robert Smalls in Map Ta Phut in neighboring Rayong province.

A-ngoon Sombat traveled 200 kilometers between Pattaya and the central province of Ayutthaya to sell colorful braided bracelets to the visiting crew, as she does every time she hears a U.S. ship is coming for a port call in Chonburi province.

She set up opposite the hotel entrance and had managed to make some sales, but said she is still unsure if business will be good this week.

“There are many vendors around. It’s really up to how lucky each of us are,” she said.

A spot just outside the Laem Chabang port had turned into a small attraction by Wednesday evening, as people gathered to catch a glimpse of the Lincoln.

People arrived by car and motorcycle to peer through a mesh fence at the ship, which is as long as about three American football fields. They took photos and videos, excitedly chatted with strangers about their chance to see the vessel.

American Keith Eldridge, who has lived in Thailand for five years, traveled from the neighboring province of Chachoengsao just to see the ship. He was too late to catch the Lincoln docking but found the viewing spot through a recommendation from other enthusiasts he met along the way.

He said it was impressive for him to get to lay his eyes on this “engineering marvel.”

“When you get to look at something so big, wrapped up with so much technology, the radars, the sonars, the weapon systems, the propulsion systems, it is truly amazing that we can build it, float it, and we fight from it,” he said.

The Lincoln’s commanding officer Capt. Dan Keeler said the ship will be heading home soon, but may make further supply stops. He declined to comment on the exact date the strike group is expected back in the U.S.

People take pictures as the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at a port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln leave a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln arrive at a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Billboard display at Walking Street in Pattaya, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln talk to a souvenir vendor in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)