Washington (AFP)
American player Sloane Stephens spoke out on Instagram on Sunday against the surge of hatred she suffered on social networks following her loss to Angelique Kerber on Friday in the 3rd round of the US Open.
"I am a human being," the African American said on Instagram, a day after receiving several thousand messages of insults and hate.
"It's too hard to read such messages," she added, "but I'll post a few so you can see what it is."
This one for example: "I promise to find you and destroy your leg to such an extent that you will never be able to walk @sloanestephens again! ... I hope you enjoyed your last moments on a court today ".
"This type of hate is exhausting and endless. We don't talk about it enough, but it sucks," said Sloane Stephens, now 66th in the world at 28, after winning the US Open in 2017 and peaking in July 2018 after a final at Roland Garros in 3rd place in the WTA rankings.
The champion then specifies that she has also received many messages of support, for which she thanks the authors.
"I prefer positive waves to negative ones ... but everything is not always rosy," she said on CNN.
© 2021 AFP