Australian tennis player Destanee Aiava has exposed in a raw video message online abuse she’s described as “twisted”, “disgusting” and “disrespectful”.
Aiava, 25, took to Instagram before the start of the Australian Open main draw to call out trolls who had attacked her.
One of the messages Aiava showed said she wasn’t good at tennis and suggested she instead take up “competitive eating”.
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“Usually I block people straight away whenever I get a comment like this or any accounts that do this,” said Aiava, who will compete in doubles but not singles at Melbourne Park.
“And I’m usually encouraged not to bite back or say anything — just block.
“But today I didn’t, purely because I wanted to see how far this person would go.”
Destanee Aiava of Australia. Getty
Some people have a “really twisted understanding” of what an opinion is, Aiava said.
“An opinion would be someone telling me maybe I can bend my legs more on my serve or someone prefers watching singles more than they like watching doubles,” said the world No.237.
“An opinion can be critical, but it can also be respectful, which is exactly what this person and many others aren’t. Constantly commenting on someone’s social media, saying ‘You’re a big back, you can’t play tennis, you’re fat, yada, yada, yada’ — that’s just straight up bullying.
“It is disgusting, disrespectful and I genuinely don’t know why people like this waste their time and energy on athletes who are just literally trying their f—ing best.”
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Aiava made the heartbreaking reveal in 2022 that she had tried to take her own life shortly before her 22nd birthday.
Three strangers intervened, saving Aiava in her darkest moment.
Later in 2022, the Melbourne product was experiencing panic attacks before matches at a tournament in Darwin.
She sought out professional help and was subsequently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
It’s a mental health condition that affects a person’s ability to regulate their emotions.
“It’s mainly from childhood trauma, so things in your brain develop poorly as a child,” Aiava told The Age last year.
One troll mocked her about her borderline personality disorder over the weekend, writing: “I think your BPD is acting up again.”
Aiava had a message for her supporters.
“thank you everyone for being so supportive and kind,” she wrote.
“i [sic] will never shut up about these disgusting imbeciles.”
Aiava fell short of a main-draw singles entry into this year’s Australian Open when she lost in the first round of qualifying, but will partner fellow Australian Maddison Inglis in doubles.
Aiava and Inglis will take on Aldila Sutjiadi and Giuliana Olmos, who hail from Indonesia and Mexico respectively, on Wednesday.
If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.