"We need a revolution" says Roger Federer on online abuse towards Osaka and Raducanu

Roger Federer wants to see a revolution in tennis especially when it comes to shielding young tennis stars from all the hate and abuse on social media.

Much has been talked about the mental health of athletes in the past years with tennis players coming into the spotlight in 2021. Naomi Osaka led the charge on that topic speaking candidly about her own mental health and how much it was impacted by negative comments. Players such as Fritz, Stephens and others also spoke about the hate they tend to get when they lose and speaking with GQ on that topic Federer said:

"I was following Emma Raducanu’s incredible run in Wimbledon and also Naomi Osaka these last few years. It’s been amazing, both of their stories, but it hurts when you see what happens and when they don’t feel well. The stress is so great. And I think a lot has to be down to social media: the first ten years of my life there was no social media, maybe I had just a website, then the next ten years social media was everywhere.”

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Federer further said:

"We need a revolution. Or at least an evolution of where we are today. I think we do need to help, coach and mentor the younger generation more. I can’t imagine going through the beginning of my career with social media; I have no clue how I would have handled it. For every ten nice comments there’s always one negative comment and, of course, that is the one you focus on. It’s a horrible situation. Even when I am feeling down I know I need to act a certain way in front of the world’s press."

Federer finished it off by echoing the same message many others spoke about earlier:

“We need to remember that tennis players are athletes and professionals, but we are also human too.”