Harriet Dart condemns online abuse directed at her after Italian Open qualifiers defeat

Harriet Dart was subjected to online abuse after she lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the Italian Open in Rome.

Dart took on Priscilla Hon for a chance to make it to the main draw of the WTA 1000 event. The Brit put on a commanding performance in the first set, winning 6-1 before Hon bounced back strongly in the second to level the scores.

Despite Hart having 14 break point opportunities over the course of the match, she was unable to get over the line as Hon saved 11 of her break points to win the match, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Harriet Dart took to social media and shared an image of derogatory comments directed at her after her early exit from the Italian Open qualifiers. She defended herself against the comments, stating how little time she had to prepare for the tournament.

"Some lovely messages & they keep going. Thank you, my first practice on clay was my warm up before my match and I arrived at 1am into Rome. Would have been easy to pull out but I did try," Dart wrote on her Instagram story.

Harriet Dart's Instagram story

Alongside Harriet Dart, Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Dustin Brown have also spoken out against online abuse

Harriet Dart at the Billie Jean King Cup

Harriet Dart is the latest victim of a growing trend of online abuse being directed at tennis players over the past few months.

In March, Lorenzo Musetti condemned the abuse directed at him on social media after he lost to Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

"Hi everyone! Just wanted to clarify about the comments story above my posts here on IG and why I did that! I think it is not healthy and correct to receive after a loss so many free insults and threats over families or person u really love. We are professional tennis players, we love tennis and we live for that," he wrote on his Instagram story.

Lorenzo Musetti's Instagram story

Musetti added that like everyone else, tennis players also have ups and downs and work hard every day to get better.

Holger Rune too opened up about the hate he received on social media and called out the ATP for failing to protect its players and neglecting the consistent bullying.

Similarly, Dustin Brown accused the ATP of inaction after he and his wife received derogatory comments on social media.