Monica Puig condemns online abuse towards Taylor Townsend, calls on WTA and ATP to prioritize player safety

Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig has voiced her support for Taylor Townsend after the American was subjected to abuse following her third-round exit from the Italian Open.

Townsend made her main draw appearance in Rome after easing her way through two rounds of qualifiers. She defeated Ysaline Bonaventure in the first round before causing an upset by defeating third seed Jessica Pegula, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

However, Townsend was unable to progress further in the tournament as her third-round opponent Wang Xiyu came back from a break down and saved a match point to win their clash 6-2, 0-6, 7-5.

Following her defeat, Townsend took to social media and shared an image of a derogatory and threatening email sent to her. She also questioned how long players would be expected to put up with such abuse.

"This is an email I got after my match. How long do we have to deal with this type of BS!???? When is someone going to step up?!," she wrote on her Instagram story.

"Side note.. don't think I'm a sweet lick.. try me if y'all want to!! You will catch these hands without hesitation," she added.

Monica Puig reshared Townsend's story on social media and called on the WTA and the ATP to implement improved safeguards for players. She emphasized the need for better protection of players, highlighting that the issue at hand involves both mental health and security concerns.

"I am alarmed and disgusted by this...@atptour @wta we need to start doing better to protect our players from this. Not only is this a mental health issue but a security issue as well. In today's world this CANNOT be ignored," Puig stated.

"I wanted to challenge myself in a different way this time" - Taylor Townsend on her decision to compete in singles at Italian Open 2023

In a recent interview with the WTA Insider, Taylor Townsend opened up about her decision to take part in the singles draw of the Italian Open, stating that she had done so to challenge herself.

"That's what I needed at the time. But I wanted to challenge myself in a different way this time, trying to earn my way into these big tournaments. I've stayed in the States, and I know what that's like. But I didn't know what this was like, so I wanted to give myself that experience and that competition level," she said.

Townsend currently holds a 3-7 win/loss record in singles for the season. Meanwhile, her doubles record stands at 18-5. Incidentally, the American reached her career-high doubles ranking of World No. 6 on May 8.

Edited by Anirudh