John Isner spoke about the online hate that tennis players receive from some fans.
In the era of social media and the growing world of betting among spectators, many players receive hateful messages online after matches and defeats.
Isner is getting ready to play his last tournament at the US Open, after announcing his retirement. In a press conference before the tournament, he talked about the times when he has been a victim of hateful messages.
"You just really have to feel sorry for them," former world No. 8 said.
“Most of the time it's people that have lost money on you. I kind of chuckle at it. If I choked and they lost money on me, it kind of makes me smile a little bit."
"That's social media," he continued. "Obviously we know it does amazing things for the world, but there's a flip side to it, as well. I think if people just can get face to face with different points of view, most people are civil."
As Isner mentioned, it is common for tennis players to receive hate messages after their matches.
"Well, yeah, probably just ignore the hate as much as you can," John Isner said. "Us professional tennis players, we get it. In an individual sport, we get it after every single match we play. It's really kind of crazy the stuff people can say."
On the other hand, the American explained the reasons that led him to make the definitive decision of retiring from tennis after a 16-year career:
"I will say it wasn't at the beginning of this year," John Isner said. "I knew it could be possible, but I did want to play as long as I could. If my results were better this year, I probably wouldn't be speaking to you right now."
"This year has been tough health-wise... Competing not quite at 100% for a little bit too long this year. Very taxing mentally on me. I did know if I was going to retire this year," Isner added.
"It was going to be at this tournament, which would be amazing"
