Shelby Rogers: ‘I’m going to have nine million death threats’ – American braces for social media abuse after US Open loss

On Saturday, Rogers’ compatriot Sloane Stephens said she received more than 2,000 messages of “abuse and anger” after her third round US Open defeat to Angelique Kerber.

Stephens shared several of the messages she said she received on Instagram, which included threats of physical violence.

“I kind of wish social media didn’t exist,” Rogers said when asked about Stephens’ Instagram posts. “Here we are. It’s a big part of marketing now, we have contracts, we have to post certain things.

“I don’t know, you could probably go through my profile right now, I’m probably a fat pig and, you know, words that I can’t say right now. But, I mean, it is what it is. You try not to take it to heart, and it’s the unfortunate side of any sport and what we do.

“I’m also very grateful to have had that opportunity on Ashe. Not everybody has even had a chance to play there, and I played there three times this week. It’s just trying to keep it in perspective. You know, just focusing on the important things, not comments from people in their mom’s basement.

“You know, yeah, it’s really unfortunate and some of it does get to your head sometimes.”

In a statement sent to CNN on Monday, Instagram said it has reviewed the accounts flagged by Stephens and removed any which violated its policies.

“The racist abuse directed at Sloane Stephens after the US Open is abhorrent,” a company spokesperson from Facebook, which owns Instagram, said. “No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and sending it on Instagram is against our rules.

“In addition to our work to remove comments and accounts that repeatedly break our rules, there are safety features available, including Comment Filters and Message Controls, which can mean no one has to see this type of abuse.

“No single thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we’re committed to the work to keep our community safe from abuse.”