Grand Slam tennis champion Sloane Stephens has tried futilely to shield herself from the cowardly yet hurtful racist abuse aimed at her and other Black players.
Stephens’ exasperation was evident after she easily vanquished Karolina Pliskova during a straight-sets victory in the opening round of the French Open. She added that she has had to endure racial animus her whole career.
“Yes, it’s obviously been a problem my entire career,” said Stephens testified to a reporter after the game, according to The Hill. “It has never stopped. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.”
Stephens, ranked 30th in the world, said there is software that’s available for players to block racist comments on social media at the French Open. But the software is insufficient to repel the haters.
“I did hear about the software. I have not used it,” she said. “I have a lot of obviously key words banned on Instagram and all of these things, but that doesn’t stop someone from just typing in an asterisk or typing it in a different way, which obviously software most of the time doesn’t catch.”
While Stephens added that she believes she will have to endure unprovoked and unwarranted abuse for the remainder of her time in the spotlight, she added that the ferocity of the abuse has become worrisome.
“I mean, obviously when there are FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you online, it’s very serious,” she said.
Stephens has addressed this sensitive subject matter on previous occasions.
