Yahoo Sports French Open: Sloane Stephens says racism against athletes has 'only gotten worse'
Sloane Stephens is headed to the second round of the French Open after beating No. 16 Karolína Plíšková in an upset victory on Monday (6-0, 6-4). She spoke bluntly in response to a question about racism after the win.
"Yes, it's obviously been a problem my entire career," she said. "It has never stopped. If anything, it's only gotten worse."
A reporter mentioned a software meant to protect athletes from hate speech on social media. Stephens, 30, said she's heard of it and hasn't used it.
"I have a lot of obviously key words banned on Instagram and all of these things, but that doesn't stop someone from just typing in an asterisk or typing it in a different way, which obviously software most of the time doesn't catch," she said.
From the the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist's perspective, it's to be expected.
"It's something I have had to deal with," she said, "and something I will continue to deal with, I'm sure. That's that."
While she's confident the issue will continue, she expressed concern about how things have changed.
"I think that, like I said, it's only continued to get worse, and people online have the free rein to say and do whatever they want behind fake pages, which is obviously very troublesome," she said. "I mean, obviously when there is FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you online, it's very serious."
Stephens didn't say whether she was speaking about a specific case, but there are plenty instances to pull from in tennis alone. Serena Williams changed the standard for success in the sport, in the face of constant criticism and racism.
The problem reaches athletes in all sports, with Real Madrid soccer player Vinicius Júnior as the most notable and timely case.
Júnior spoke out against racial abuse from a fan on May 21, and he was also subject to racist chants at Valencia's Mestalla stadium. In a statement, he noted La Liga and Spain's lack of advocacy. La Liga is investigating, and vowed to take “appropriate legal action” if “any hate crime is detected.”
Discussions at Roland Garros also went beyond tennis on Day 1, when Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk opted not to shake hands after losing to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Sunday. Kostyuk cited a "lack of respect" for Sabalenka's failure to speak out against the war.
