Matteo Berrettini has been dealing with a lot of social media hate because of his recent relationship with fellow Italian Melissa Satta.
Now, Satta opened up about her story of social media abuse. Berrettini is a fairly popular tennis player who was the community's favourite for a long time thanks to his really good tennis and his adorable relationship with fellow player Ajla Tomljanovic. They were hailed as the perfect tennis couple capturing the imagination of many tennis fans yet the balloon burst when they separated.
His new relationship hasn't been well received though it's unclear whether it's the relationship itself or the bad results that came with it. Berrettini defended his bad form explaining that it's nothing to do with the relationship as he's really happy however the hate keeps coming. His better half feels it too and she opened up about it.
I have been receiving a lot of messages of insults, bullying and sexism for months. I am attacked for the sentimental story I am experiencing. In 2023 this type of bullying must not exist. I have chosen and accepted to be a public figure and all that it entails: paparazzi, questions, gossip . I show my daily life on social networks, I tell myself. But I also love to keep some things to myself.
It's something that tennis players know all to well as any loss warrants dozens of messages on their social media and there is no great solution. Athletes have brand deals that depend on their social media presence so simply shutting things down isn't really an option. As Satta explained there are tradeoffs that need to be made as a public figure.
Berrettini spoke out against it as well asking people to mind their business but that's not going to happen. He did start playing better lately so maybe that fixes some of it.
0 Comments