Fernandez responds to fan who mockingly brands her 'social media pro'
WTA
Leylah Fernandez had a bit of a back-and-forth with a fan on social media after they mocked her recent lack of results by branding her a social media expert.
Athletes have been under fire from fans ever since social media became a thing. Before that, there wasn’t much opportunity for fans of any sport to directly contact athletes.
Social media opened that portal, and it’s not always a very good thing. There has been a lot of harassment towards athletes in recent years, especially in tennis, and many have spoken about it.
It’s getting worse as time goes on, and it’s becoming a proper problem. The WTA Tour has been quite slow to respond, which has garnered criticism from pundits, players, and fans, who are respectful, as well.
Fernandez got to experience that recently, even though it wasn’t through direct messages as it usually happens. It was in a comment, and it came after she posted on the social media platform Instagram.
It was a joking post by Fernandez, who compared how tennis players look in photos on social media to how they look when they’re caught on the court. She added a caption to the post to add a bit more context: "Tennis is such a graceful and photogenic sport. The pics that don't make the feed are..."
It was a funny post, but one fan didn’t see any fun in it. The fan found it appropriate after that to mock Fernandez for her recent bad results by pointing out that she’s become very well-versed in social media while her tennis suffered, implying that she’s been spending more time on that than on her tennis.
"You've become a social network pro but cannot win matches. All your deals will disappear without wins."
Fernandez took the high road in her response, avoiding mocking the person in return. "Well, aren’t you delightful with some great insights."
