Destanee Aiava is one of Australia’s brightest tennis prospects. She turned 18 earlier this year and has now officially made the move from the junior circuit to the intimidating WTA Tour.
Apart from the increased physical demands, the sacrifices needed to try to carve out a sustainable career are even more dramatic. “The transition is quite tough,” she says. “On tour, I don’t really have time to talk to the other tennis players… so I just keep my friends group as small as possible, it’s pretty brutal out there.”
(Photo: Supplied by Destanee Aiava)
In the age of social media, professional athletes are exposed to more criticism than ever before. Destanee wants to break the trend of what she sees as the clichéd and impersonal social media accounts common among professional tennis players, describing most on the circuit as “pretty boring”.
“I think they’re robots, to be honest. With my social media, I like to be honest and say whatever I want. I like to change it up a little bit. I think they should definitely show some sort of personality if they have one.”
(Destanee “makes the most” of any chance she has to get away from tennis to enjoy moments like going to a music festival, and sharing it with the world on her Instagram account. Credit: Instagram)
Tennis star and fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios has come under severe media criticism for his attitude and commitment to the sport. But Destanee, who’s an intense competitor, expresses some sympathy.
She says for players, professional tennis can be boring, isolating and relentless…and this takes its toll on court.
“If people say ‘oh well he’s not putting in any effort at all,’ they might not have thought about other aspects, like his wellbeing,” she says.
“Yes, I do feel for him sometimes.”
Destanee is a vibrant and charismatic young athlete. If we want more sportspeople to show their fun side and embrace social media with true representations of themselves, we might have to cut them some slack first.
Like us, they are only human.
