Sloane Stephens: Racist attacks have ‘only gotten worse’

U.S. tennis player Sloane Stephens says the racism she’s faced has “only gotten worse” over the years.

Speaking Monday after her first-round win at the French Open, Stephens told reporters of being on the receiving end of racist attacks, saying, “It’s obviously been a problem my entire career. It’s never stopped. It’s only gotten worse.”

“Obviously when there’s FBI investigations going on with [what] people are saying to you online, it’s very serious,” Stephens, 30, said during a news conference after beating Karolina Pliskova.

“It’s been something I’ve dealt with my whole career, and 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,” the 2017 U.S. Open champion said.

“It’s something I’ve had to deal with my whole career, and something I’ll continue to deal with, I’m sure. And that’s that,” she added.

It’s not the first time that Stephens has spoken out against racist abuse against athletes. After a 2021 U.S. Open loss, Stephens, who is Black, said she received more than 2,000 racist and sexist social media messages, sharing some of the attacks on her Instagram account.

“I’m choosing positive vibes over negative ones,” she said at the time.