{"id":480351,"date":"2026-02-14T22:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480351\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T22:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:13:07","slug":"destanee-aiava-announce-shock-retirement-at-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480351\/","title":{"rendered":"Destanee Aiava Announce Shock Retirement at 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian tennis player Destanee Aiava has dropped a bombshell: 2026 will be her final year as a professional. At just 25, the Samoan-Australian, who peaked at world #147 and inspired many from Pacific Islander communities, announced her decision in a raw Instagram post. She described tennis<\/a> as her \u201ctoxic boyfriend\u201d \u2013 a sport that gave her travel, friends and a platform, but also took her health, family ties, self-worth and peace of mind.<\/p>\n

Aiava didn\u2019t hold back. She thanked supporters and her roots but unleashed a \u201cginormous f*** you\u201d to the tennis world. She called out a culture hidden behind \u201cwhite outfits and traditions\u201d that she says is \u201cracist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who doesn\u2019t fit the mould.\u201d She admitted feeling behind at her age, scared but ready to chase purpose over misery.<\/p>\n

A major flashpoint in her statement was gamblers. Aiava directly slammed \u201cevery single gambler who\u2019s sent me hate or death threats,\u201d highlighting the relentless direct messages and abuse that followed her matches. This wasn\u2019t abstract frustration \u2013 it was personal, repeated harassment that chipped away at her.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s far from alone. WTA and ITF reports<\/a> show angry gamblers drive 40% of all online abuse aimed at players, jumping to 77% in private DMs. Elina Svitolina shared<\/a> vile messages after a loss, calling out bettors for shaming mothers and wishing harm on her Ukrainian family. Jessica Pegula posted screenshots<\/a> of threats after a shock defeat, branding the senders \u201cinsane and delusional.\u201d Katie Boulter has received death threats and explicit photos, while Caroline Garcia exposed messages urging her to kill herself. These cases reveal a pattern: bettors lash out when they lose money, turning social media into a minefield for female players.<\/p>\n

Aiava\u2019s exit shines a harsh light on tennis\u2019s dark side. At 25, she\u2019s choosing a life away from the court over the grind \u2013 a brave stand that might force the sport and betting industry to finally act.<\/p>\n

Main photo credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian tennis player Destanee Aiava has dropped a bombshell: 2026 will be her final year as a professional.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,185522,66053,85,747,184119],"class_list":{"0":"post-480351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australian-tennis","11":"tag-destanee-aiava","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-wta-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}