An Australian tennis player wrote a breakup letter to the sport, even going so far as to call its culture “racist.”
In a statement posted to her social media, Destanee Aiava announced that 2026 will be the last year she plays tennis, comparing it to a “toxic boyfriend.”
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“From the moment I had my first lesson at Casey Tennis Club, my entire life was tennis. I often wondered what my life would look like if I’d chosen anything else. And whether everything I sacrificed for this sport was actually worth the cost,” she wrote on Instagram. “There was a time in my career when I had reached the point that comes just before you make your big breakthrough, when the world is at your feet and nothing can touch you. I was only 17, unprepared and dangerously naive to the consequences of trusting the wrong people. The trajectory of my career was never the same after that.”
“Sometimes I kept playing because I felt like I owed it to not only myself but to everyone who had helped me throughout my career, to try and get back to where (on paper) I belonged,” she continued. “Other times I kept going because I was too scared to start again. Or I was bored. I also didn’t know who I was outside of tennis and what my true passion was. I was constantly looking for that last thing that gave me peace instead of grief. In other words tennis was my toxic boyfriend.”
But it wasn’t all bad, she wrote, praising the sport for giving her “many things” she was grateful for, like the “places I’ve travelled that people only dream of visiting,” some of her “best friends” and also a “platform” She also mentioned that the sport “took things” from her such as her “health,” “family,” “selfworth” and her “relationship with her body.”
“I want to say a ginormous f**k you to everyone in the tennis community who’s ever made me feel less than. F**k you to every single gambler who’s sent me hate or death threats. F**k you to the people who sit behind screens on social media, commenting on my body, my career, or whatever the f**k they want to nitpick. And f**k you to the sport that hides behind so-called class and gentlemanly values,” her post reads. “Behind the white outfits and traditions is a culture that’s racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who doesn’t fit its mould.”
“Life is not meant to be lived in misery or half-assed,” the athlete declared. “My ultimate goal is to be able to wake up everyday and genuinely say I love what I do – which I think everyone deserves a chance at. I’m 25, turning 26 this year and I feel so far behind everyone else, like I’m starting from scratch. I’m also scared. But that’s better than living a life thats misaligned, or being around constant comparison and losing yourself.”
She thanked her friends, family, partner and the Pacific Islander community before signing off with “Goodbye, Destanee.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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