Naomi Osaka understands why people were offended by a sponsor's controversial portrayal of her but she insists her focus is solely on her upcoming Australian Open final.
Japanese noodle company Nissin, a sponsor of Osaka, apologised on Wednesday after whitening her face in an ad which displayed the US Open champion as an anime character.
Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father and moved to the United States when she was young, spoke publicly about the issue for the first time after defeating Karolina Pliskova in Thursday's semi-final.
A 6-2 4-6 6-4 success booked her place in a second grand slam decider, where she will meet Petra Kvitova, conqueror of Danielle Collins in straight sets.
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"I'm just focused on this right now. I've gotten to the final of a slam, and that's sort of my main priority," Osaka told a news conference when asked about the Nissin ad.
"I've talked to them. They've apologised. For me, it's obvious, I'm tan. It's pretty obvious. I don't think they did it on purpose to be, like, whitewashing or anything.
"But I definitely think that the next time they try to portray me or something, I feel like they should talk to me about it.
.@Naomi_Osaka_ becomes the first Japanese woman in the Open Era to reach the #AusOpen final pic.twitter.com/KsL7YU28UP
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2019
"I get why people would be upset about it. The person that drew that, I'm not really sure, but I think he was the creator of [Japanese comic series] Prince of Tennis. I feel like you would have to do research on it, to see if he's ever done things like this before.
"I mean, to be honest, I haven't really paid too much attention to this. This is sort of the first time that anyone's asking me questions.
"I don't really want to say anything wrong at this point. I feel like I should do my research before I answer, if that's okay."
Turning her attention to Saturday's final against Kvitova, Osaka was well aware of the challenge of taking on a two-time major champion.
"I mean, we've never played before. I think to have the opportunity to play her for the first time in a final of a grand slam is something very amazing," Osaka said.
"I've watched her play the Wimbledon finals. I know what a great player she is. It's definitely going to be very tough for me."