Samoan Australian tennis star Destanee Aiava took to social media to call out online “trolls” who were body shaming her after her early exit of the Australian Open.
Aiava lost in the AO qualifiers last week to Britains Harriet Dart 3-6, 6-2, 3-6.
Following her defeat, Aiava expressed how devastated she was in the result by posting photos of her tennis journey from her young age to her recent match with the caption “💔”
Unfortunately, an instagram account with the handle @iamft03 commented on the 25 year olds performance stating “Tennis isn’t for you try finding something else. Maybe competitive eating?”
In a raw Instagram video responding to these posts, Aiava described the comments as “disgusting, disrespectful” and called out trolls for wasting energy attacking someone who is “literally trying their f***ing best.”
“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,” she said in her video responding to the trolls.
“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.”
It’s not the first time Aiava has had to deal with online bullying and fat shaming.
While she had a breakthrough performance in making the second round of the Australian Open main draw last year, she also dealt with online comments about her body type and appearance.
In the video she recorded over the weekend, Aiava said she’d “dealt with this my entire career”.
“The way that people think it’s OK just because someone is a public figure, that they comment this sh*t? F***ing disgusting,” she said.
“Body shaming is not a f***ing opinion, and neither is bullying.”
Support from the Pacific community:
Aiava’s loss in the Australian Open didn’t deter her fans, with an outpouring of support from the Pacific community.
Kim Ah-Tong and her daughter Lyana attended the match and said she “inspired us to live our dream”.
“As Samoans, we wanted to support Samoans, and I want Lyana to try and pursue tennis, so it was inspiring to watch,” Ms Ah-Tong said.
“When Destanee played in last year’s Australian Open, that’s when Lyana really started following her journey. Hopefully one day I’ll get to watch her on the court or playing a sport she wants to pursue.
“We’re a small nation, so having Destanee out there and other athletes out there representing us is pretty important to show who we are and where we come from.”
Online, Samoan professional athletes also voiced their support.
Kiwi Ferns shooter Martina Salmon commented: “As you should! Proud of you girl. You are strong and beautiful.”
Samoan UFC heavyweight Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa commented, “On to the next”.
Currently, Aiava is the only Pacific Island woman on the WTA tour. Fans will be able to see her in action again this Wednesday, January 21, when she partners with Australian Madison Inglis in the first round of the women’s doubles.
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