This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Albert Cesare/The Enquirer
Caroline Garcia collapses on the court after winning the Western & Southern Open women’s final match at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. Garcia defeated Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-4.
Calling attention to some of the insults she has received in recent days following difficult losses, Caroline Garcia took to social media Wednesday morning to crusade against the practice.
In a post on Twitter/X, Garcia shared a sample of some of the messages she has received after recent losses, including following her first-round US Open loss to Renata Zarazua Tuesday.
Following the 6-1, 6-4 upset loss to the lower-ranked Zarazua, Garcia shared several offensive messages she had received, such as “You are a piece of s***” and “I hope your mom dies soon.”
Garcia, 30, expressed dismay at the overall situation, with particular concern for younger players not yet equipped to deal with online hatred.
“We are humans. And sometimes, when we receive this messages we are already emotionally destroyed after a tough loss. And they can be damaging,” Garcia wrote. ” … It really worries me when I think about younger players coming up, that have to go through this. People that still haven’t yet developed fully as a human and that really might be affected by this hate.”
She also touched on the topic of gambling in sports, and how that might fuel some of the abuse that players receive.
“Tournaments and the sport keeps partnering with betting companies, which keep attracting new people to unhealthy betting,” she wrote. ” … Here we are promoting betting companies, which actively destroy the life of some people.”
–Field Level Media
