Australian tennis player Destanee Aiava has said she will stop playing professional tennis. The 25-year-old described the sport as “racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile,” saying it has been very hard on her mental health.
Aiava recently failed to qualify for the Australian Open and said this will be her last year on tour. She is currently ranked No. 321 in the world.
Aiava was born on May 10, 2000, in Melbourne, Australia. She started playing tennis when she was a child and quickly became one of the top young players in the country.
In 2017, she won the girls’ singles title at the Australian Open. She made history as the first player of Pacific Islander background to win a junior Grand Slam singles title.She turned professional in 2015.
Aiava has won more than five ITF singles titles and several ITF doubles titles. These are lower-level professional tournaments that help players build their ranking.
She has played in qualifying rounds and main draws at Grand Slam events, including the Australian Open, and in many ITF and WTA tournaments in Australia and overseas.
Even though she showed great promise as a junior, she has struggled with injuries, form, and mental health in recent years.
In 2022, Aiava shared that she had planned to take her own life at Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge but was stopped by three strangers. Her story shocked many people and brought strong support from fans and other athletes.
In her retirement message on social media, she wrote:
“My ultimate goal is to be able to wake up every day and genuinely say that I love what I do which I think everyone deserves a chance at.
“I’m 25, turning 26 this year and I feel so far behind everyone else, like I’m starting from scratch.
“I’m also scared. But that’s better than living a life that’s misaligned, or being around constant comparison and losing yourself.
“It also took things from me. My relationship with my body. My health. My family. My self-worth.
Would I do it all again? I really don’t know, but one thing this sport taught me is that there is always a chance to start fresh.”
