Aussie tennis star Destanee Aiava has hit back at a troll who posted what she called a ‘f***ing disgusting’ comment on her looks by exposing them on Instagram in a furious broadside.
Aiava – who was knocked out of qualifying for the main draw of this year’s tournament – posted the troll’s comment, ‘Tennis isn’t for you try finding something else. Maybe competitive eating?’
She then tore strips off the person behind the comment in an explosive clip.
‘Usually I block people straight away whenever I get a comment like this,’ she said.
‘I’m usually encouraged not to bite back or say anything, just block – but today I didn’t, purely because I wanted to see how far this person would go.’
Aiava showed her followers snippets of her conversation with the troll, including one in which she wrote, ‘This is a prime example of what happens when you don’t parent your kids properly. They turn out stupid and evil.’
Aussie tennis star Destanee Aiava is pictured in a grab from the fiery message she sent to a troll who made a ‘f***ing disgusting’ comment about her looks
Aiava (pictured in an Australian Open qualifying match last week) called the troll ‘a prime example of what happens when you don’t parent your kids properly’
The 25-year-old said many trolls try to excuse their behaviour by saying it’s just their opinion when what they’re doing is actually ‘straight-up bullying’
The commenter replied, ‘How’s it stupid if I’m telling the truth how’s it evil lmaooo ur literally big af and cannot for the life of you play tennis.’
Aiava said many trolls try to excuse their behaviour by saying it’s just their opinion, when what they write is actually completely disrespectful.
‘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.
‘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.
‘I’ve dealt with this my entire career.
‘The way that people think it’s OK just because someone is a public figure, that they can comment this s**t? F***ing disgusting.
‘Body shaming is not a f***ing opinion and neither is bullying.
‘If you want to hate on someone, hate in private. Text your f***ing loser friends … Karma is a b**ch.’
Pictured: Aiava shared some of her conversation with the troll on Instagram
Aiava (pictured) shot to prominence at Melbourne Park last January
Aiava became a cult hero at last year’s Australian Open as she got through the qualifying rounds to claim her first Grand Slam match win by beating Belgium’s Greet Minnen.
She had previously opened up about her battle with mental illness in 2022.
‘The night of Easter Sunday (17th April) I was going to throw myself off a bridge onto the M1, 3 people drove by, dragged me off the rails and drove me home,’ she wrote.
‘I did not want to make it to my 22nd birthday, but I know my family and friends would be happy to know I’m alive on this day that’s meant to be special.
‘Sometimes people you come across in life can make you feel that you’re unworthy of being loved, but at the end of the day I’ve learnt – “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength but with your testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it”.’
After beating Minnen, she gave her fans a heartwarming update on the effect it would have on her mindset.
‘I can sometimes get into a really bad head space and think that I was never going to win a first-round match or I wouldn’t ever qualify, before I did at the US Open (in 2024),’ she said.
‘But once I actually do those things and the belief comes with it, then just the more situations I’m in like this, it definitely gives me more confidence.’
