{"id":1779704,"date":"2026-02-19T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1779704"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:00:14","slug":"destanee-aiava-never-felt-like-i-belonged-as-australian-opens-up-on-bombshell-retirement-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1779704","title":{"rendered":"Destanee Aiava &#8216;never felt like I belonged&#8217; as Australian opens up on bombshell retirement statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Destanee Aiava \u2018never felt like I belonged\u2019 as Australian opens up on bombshell retirement statement<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/oli-dickson-jefford\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Oli Dickson Jefford                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"19 Feb 2026 11:00 AM\" data-ps-date=\"19 Feb 2026 11:00 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771498814\"><br \/>\n                            19 Feb 2026 11:00 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/destanee-aiava-never-felt-like-belonged-australian-opens-up-retirement-statement\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a 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hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Fdestanee-aiava-never-felt-like-belonged-australian-opens-up-retirement-statement\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a class=\"!text-share-icon hover:!text-share-icon-active flex items-center justify-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" aria-label=\"Follow Tennis365 on Google Search\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Destanee Aiava \u2018never felt like I belonged\u2019 as Australian opens up on bombshell retirement statement\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Destanee-Aiava-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Destanee Aiava during a match.\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Destanee Aiava unleashed an extraordinary rant in announcing her impending retirement.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Australian tennis star Destanee Aiava has spoken out after making headlines across the globe following her bombshell statement announcing her impending retirement from tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Currently ranked 320th in the world,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/wta-player-says-f-you-tennis-community-surprise-early-retirement-announcement\">\u00a0Aiava announced in a statement last week that she would retire from tennis in 2026, and did not hold back in her heavy criticism of the sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian, who reached a career-high of 147th back in 2017, sent a \u201cginormous f**k you\u201d to her critics and described tennis as her \u201ctoxic boyfriend\u201d, further claiming that the sport had a culture that was \u201cracist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who doesn\u2019t fit its mould.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aiava came through qualifying to reach the second round of the Australian Open in 2025 and won 10 ITF Tour singles titles during her career, though the Australian \u2014 who only turns 26 in May \u2014 is now set to step back from the sport at a comparatively young age.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in a new interview with <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.claytenis.com\/interviews\/escaping-tennis-cruelty-at-25-interview-with-destanee-aiava\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Clay<\/em><\/a> and <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/rg.org\/news\/tennis\/destanee-aiava-to-quit-tennis-in-2026-after-blasting-racist-toxic-culture\" target=\"_blank\"><em>RG Media<\/em><\/a>, the Australian opened up about her difficulties within the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing a woman of colour in this sport that\u2019s predominantly white, it\u2019s been a big struggle from the get-go,\u201d said Aiava.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s not been one time where I felt like I belonged in this sport because of my colour. It\u2019s always going to be harder for us, and that\u2019s just the reality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if I wasn\u2019t a woman, it\u2019s still going to be harder if I was Brown or Asian or Black. From the online abuse and people in the stands during my matches heckling me, there\u2019s so many instances that equated to my retirement post.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/wta-rankings-why-elena-rybakinas-dubai-retirement-benefits-iga-swiatek\">WTA Rankings: Why Elena Rybakina\u2019s Dubai retirement benefits Iga Swiatek<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-iga-swiatek-defended-former-no-1-ranking-point-punishment\">Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek defended by former No 1 after ranking point \u2018punishment\u2019 suggestion<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Part of Aiava\u2019s retirement statement took aim at abusive messages she had received on social media from online gamblers, alongside those who had criticised her appearance or her career.<\/p>\n<p>And, the 25-year-old revealed that she not only wanted to speak for herself during her statement, which she posted on social media this past weekend.<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u201cI\u2019ve gotten comments online from people calling me \u2018fat,\u2019 calling me a \u2018man.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven seeing gay tennis players and how they\u2019re treated, it\u2019s such an important thing for me to also advocate for them because I see firsthand how they\u2019ve been treated in tennis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really just didn\u2019t want to speak for myself. I wanted to speak for everyone else who had or who has had a very similar experience to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aiava is yet to confirm when she will play her final tournament, though her retirement statement has attracted significant attention both within and outside of tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Among those to comment on the Australian\u2019s statement was world No 6 Amanda Anisimova, who was asked about some of Aiava\u2019s message during her campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI personally don\u2019t know her story. I don\u2019t know her that well,\u201d said Anisimova.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not really sure what she was talking about in that aspect. I don\u2019t know if she was talking more about the reactions she received on social media or people in tennis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just don\u2019t know enough in detail to be able to answer that question. At the end of the day, it is heartbreaking she had that experience. Hopefully, maybe she\u2019ll change her mind and have a restart in tennis. You never know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/dubai-tennis-championships-withdrawals-retirements-field-wta-1000-decimated\">Dubai Tennis Championships withdrawals and retirements: Field at WTA 1000 event decimated<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Destanee Aiava \u2018never felt like I belonged\u2019 as Australian opens up on bombshell retirement statement Oli Dickson Jefford 19 Feb 2026 11:00 AM Destanee Aiava unleashed an extraordinary rant in announcing her impending retirement. Australian tennis star Destanee Aiava has spoken out after making headlines across the globe following her bombshell statement announcing her impending [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1779704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1779704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1779704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1779704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1779704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}