Sloane Stephens doesn’t deserve this.
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After losing to Angelique Kerber in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday, the 28-year-old tennis star took to Instagram on Saturday to reveal that she received a flurry of abusive direct messages and photo comments from users who were upset by her defeat.
From USA Today:
“I am human, after last night’s match I got 2k + messages of abuse/anger from people upset by yesterday’s result,” Stephens shared on her Instagram story along with screenshots of the messages. “It’s so hard to read messages like these, but I’ll post a few so you guys can see what it’s like after a loss.”
“This type of hate is so exhausting and never ending,” Stephens’ post continued. “This isn’t talked about enough, but it really freaking sucks.”
It’s no secret that there’s not much that Black women can do in this country without receiving a seemingly endless onslaught of online harassment from anonymous social media-using cowards that hide behind avatars of American flags, muscle cars, random celebrities and dogs instead of showing their faces.
Leslie Jones can’t bust ghosts. Ruqaiyah Morris can’t run for office. Lizzo damn near can’t do anything without internet trolls descending upon her like locusts.
To echo Stephens’ sentiment, this does suck. The fact that tech companies apparently have no interest in listening to the experiences of Black people when it comes to making social media a safer space is also disheartening.
But despite it all, Stephens isn’t letting this experience get her down. Per USA Today, she ended her Instagram post with a positive outlook.
More from USA Today:
“I’m happy to have people in my corner who support me. I’m choosing positive vibes over negative ones.”
More power to Sloane Stephens. While these trolls keep trolling, she’ll keep shining on the court for the whole world to see.
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