Madison Keys voices frustration with social media

Ask any professional tennis player on the tour if they’d rather win or lose, and all would surely look at you baffled for even asking such a question. That’s because no player steps onto the court wanting to lose. They train for hours, put themselves through grueling fitness routines, diets and more just to perform their absolute best. But, in this game no one is perfect and most tournaments end in a loss rather than a title.

World No. 48 Madison Keys knows all about this, but she loves the game and the amazing people it continues to connect her with. However, she’s not happy with how little social media platforms do to keep harmful/abusive messages away.

“If you’ve seen my IG recently, you know how frustrated I am that social media platforms don’t do more to keep the awful and abusive messages out of our DMs,” Keys wrote on Twitter.

It’s tough taking losses, but athletes shouldn’t have to deal with hateful messages when they check their phones after disappointing days. The American is far from the only tennis player to experience this. Sloane Stephens recently took to Twitter to share just a snapshot of the horrific messages she received following her loss at this year's US Open.

Keys plans to stay strong and continue to push social media platforms to do better in monitoring these types of comments and DMs.

“I know this is happening to other athletes, my friends, and younger kids, and I will keep speaking out on this until social media is a safe place for everyone.

“I have your back. And thanks for always being there for me too.”

Keys suffered her fifth consecutive opening-round loss in Chicago on Monday. She was forced to retire against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to a shoulder injury.