Courtney Balcombe

News Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

Since the U.S. Open tennis tournament on September 3rd, American tennis player Sloane Stephens has received over 2,000 messages about her loss. Following her third-round loss to Germany’s Angelique Kerber, Stephens took to Instagram to reflect on the competition.

“Disappointing loss yesterday, but I’m heading in the right direction. Honestly, so much to be proud of! Been fighting battles all year and haven’t backed down yet. Never stop fighting! You win or you learn, but you never lose,” Stephens captioned the post.

While some comments were encouraging and supportive, others were not. As social media has a direct message feature, many went to Stephens’ messages, which she shared over her Instagram Story.

“I am human, after last night’s match I got 2k+ messages of abuse/anger from people upset by yesterday’s result,” she wrote. “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…”

According to People magazine, Stephens then shared screenshots of several messages in her inbox, including one that read: “I promise to find you and destroy your leg so hard that you can’t walk anymore @sloanestephens! Fixer and corruption like you must be ban forever in jail! I hope you enjoyed your last moments on court today.”

While Stephens has shared the abuse she’s received over Instagram, a spokesperson for Facebook told CNN in a statement, “The racist abuse directed at Sloane Stephens after the US Open is abhorrent. No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and sending it on Instagram is against our rules.”

The statement continued, “In addition to our work to remove comments and accounts that repeatedly break our rules, there are safety features available, including Comment Filters and Message Controls, which can mean no one has to see this type of abuse. No single thing will fix this challenge overnight but we’re committed to the work to keep our community safe from abuse.”

Stephens has also shared her experience with mental health over her Instagram as well, even saying that she relates to the feeling of mentally being in a place “where it’s been dark and it’s been deep and it’s been sad.”

“If you’re struggling and you need to get it out, why would you just sit and wallow? Maybe there’s someone else that can help you, maybe there’s someone that you can talk to, maybe there’s someone that has gone through the same thing and can offer you advice and support and whatever that may be.”

Stephens ended the series of posts on a positive note, sharing encouraging messages she received and expressing happiness to have a strong support system.

“I’m choosing positive vibes over negative ones,” Stephens wrote. “I choose to show you guys happiness on here but it’s not always smiles and roses.”