What do Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and Sloane Stephens have in common apart from the WTA circuit? Online bullying. All these WTA players have, at one point or the other, faced horrid messages from bullies on their social media platforms. And these are not the only players. Recently, a former top 30 ATP player, Joao Sousa, has come to the forefront, exposing the brutal reality of climbing up the ladder and how it affects his game.

Some players like Daniil Medvedev have decided to cancel out the noise from such platforms. However, if that is the only solution, it also means that the players will be cut off from their fans too.

Portuguese ATP player Joao Sousa battles mental health scare as bullies get to him

The Portuguese player Joao Sousa is one of the many tennis players who have come out expressing his anxiety due to online bullying. He shared screenshots of the hate messages he received.

Renowned journalist Jose Morgado took to Twitter to share the plight of the Portuguese player. Sousa is ranked 156 on the ATP ranking chart at the moment. However, he has been a part of the top ATP 30 players in the past. With four ATP titles under his name, Sousa is not spared by the haters.

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Sharing the messages on his Instagram story, he showed messages where people called him, “Omfg why would you go for that f**king drop shot you pathetic embarrassing c**t”,

“Embarrassing clown cant hold a single service game in 3rd set. You are embarrassment to tennis.”

Annother one wrote, “B*t*h i hope u fucking die.  F**king match fixer.”

Consequently, the player stated, “I’m exhausted of these messages.”

He is a player who has reached 12 ATP finals. The reporter also detailed that Sousa has been dealing with this issue, which is severely affecting his mental health.

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He stated, “Sousa, living one of the toughest moments of his career, admitted recently on court that he feels stressed every night before a match. It’s been tough.”

However, he is not the only one who feels that way. Players like Emma Raducanu have even had stalkers come after them.

The stalker of Emma Raducanu wants to be excused 

The British player had reported about a stalker who came near her house back in 2021. Eventually, he stole her father’s shoes, assuming that it was hers.

After getting caught, he is now asking to be excused from the ‘unpaid work’ he had to do, citing medical reasons. This is the condition of bullies and stalkers. Sidelining the anxiety that the players have to go through because of such instances is the reason that perpetrators are continuing without any fear.

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Do you think such issues affect the performance of players? Let us know your views in the comments below.