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Sloane Stephens has spoken up about the racial abuse she continues to receive on social media, remarking that it has only gotten worse in recent times. In fact, the American has resigned herself to dealing with it in what remains of her career as well, regardless of what technological advancements occur.
This year, the French Open has introduced a software that is designed to protect players from social media abuse. However, speaking at her press conference after her 6-0, 6-4 win over Karolina Pliskova in the first round, Sloane Stephens admitted that she hasn't used it herself yet.
At the same time, the American stated that she has blocked a lot of keywords on Instagram to keep herself as safe as possible, while also highlighting that some people manage to bypass such measures anyway.
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"[Racial abuse] has obviously been a problem my entire career. It has never stopped. If anything, it's only gotten worse. I did hear about the software. I have not used it. I have a lot of obviously key words banned on Instagram and all of these things," Sloane Stephens said.
"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. So, yeah, it hasn't stopped and I haven't used the software yet," she added.
Having dealt with the issue throughout her career, Stephens appeared dejected as she declared that the situation shows no sign of improving in the coming years either.
"I mean, obviously when there is FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you online, it's very serious. Obviously it's been something that I have dealt with my whole career."
"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. But, yeah, it's something I have had to deal with my whole career and something I will continue to deal with, I'm sure. That's that," Sloane Stephens said.
"Really happy with the way I have been playing" - Sloane Stephens
Returning to her first-round win over Karolina Pliskova at the 2023 French Open, Sloane Stephens stated that she was "really happy" with her recent run of form. Prior to Roland Garros, the former US Open champion won the WTA 125 title at Saint-Malo and reached the semifinals of the Morocco Open in Rabat.
Having put together a lot of matches under her belt, the American was confident in her own abilities and looked forward to a fruitful campaign in Paris.
"Obviously coming into last season to the French Open, I didn't win any matches before, so obviously I have had a lot of different scenarios coming into the French Open, but this year my goal was to get a lot of matches. I think going to Saint-Malo was a good choice for me obviously to get more matches and get a win there and get some confidence," Sloane Stephens said.
"Yeah, really happy with the way I have been playing. Been able to put a lot of matches together and a lot of wins, which is always good, good for the confidence. Happy to have those coming in to here," she added.
