Destanee Aiava didn’t mince words following her initial qualifying victory at the Australian Open, as she clapped back at nasty online haters.

Ranked world no.165, Aiava stood up for herself on social media in response to disparaging remarks about her physique that came after she donned a retro Maria Sharapova Nike ensemble on court Monday (January 6). Despite triumphing over Ana Bogdan with a solid 6-4, 6-2 in the qualifier’s first round, her outfit drew unwarranted attention from one spectator who disregarded her remarkable performance.

They shared on X: “Omg, why would she wear a dress that doesn’t suit her at all? She made a mess of the outfit with her unproportionate [sic] body, her bulges covering the dress design.” Aiava, however, wasn’t going to let such a tab go unnoticed, highlighting the hypocrisy in the troll’s own social media account, reports the Mirror.

She fired back with biting sarcasm: “Omg, thank you so much,” before noting: “I love how your bio says ‘personal insult and swearing reply = block’ and then you go and comment a personal insult.” In addition, the spirited tennis pro shared a snapshot showing the commenter’s bio next to their rude remark, captioning it with: “Math isn’t mathing, stand on business and don’t be a hypocrite xo.”

However, the athlete’s robust presence on social media was not spared from trolls attempting to body shame her. One such troll posted a screenshot of Aiava with the comment: “Not to hate or body shame anyone but Destanee Aiave needs to lose some weight to get more quick on her feet IMO,” prompting a blunt response from Aiava, who wrote: “Shut the f*** up,” before adding: “Not to ‘hate’ or ‘body shame’ and then you went and hated and body shamed.”

The offender seems to have retracted their post, opting instead to issue an apology, which Aiava acknowledged with: “Thank u for ur apology.” On the court, Aiava is turning heads at the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers, having triumphed over Bogdan, followed by a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory against Panna Udvardy on Wednesday (January 8).

Destanee Aiava hit back at online trolls

Destanee Aiava hit back at online trolls ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

She is gearing up to compete against Eva Lys in the next match scheduled for Thursday (January 9). It marks a significant moment for Aiava, who has overcome a challenging start to the season, including a disheartening stint at the United Cup – where despite being part of a select team comprising Alex de Minaur, Omar Jasika, Olivia Gadecki, Ellen Perez, and Matt Ebden, she did not get a chance to play.

She also characterized the tournament’s vibe as “weird and hostile”. Aiava shared her experience at the United Cup, explaining: “So far I’ve had a good time at the event itself. Regarding our team, yeah, it’s not felt so welcoming. There’s been like, at most, two people that I’ve actually properly conversed with on the team, maybe three.”

She also announced her decision to boycott future United Cup participation unless she’s top-ranked, adding: “This week wasn’t the best prep for AO. In fact, it could have been the worst prep I’ve ever had, like match-wise. So it’s fair to say that I won’t be ever entering United Cup ever again, unless I’m the No. 1 player, because then I’ll be guaranteed a match – but I guess that’s my fault.”