Following a gut-wrenching defeat at the ITF W75 Prague final, Australian tennis sensation Destanee Aiava revealed her frustration in a rather unconventional manner. The 24-year-old tennis star, who was just on the brink of her first 2025 title, let her emotions get the better of her and hurled a chair against the wall, a spectacle that didn’t go unnoticed.
Aiava, who was on an upward trajectory after clinching two ITF titles in the previous year, found herself in a tightly contested match against Gabriela Knutson. The gripping Prague final ended in a close 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory for Knutson, leaving Aiava just short of the title she had set her sights on.
Subsequent to her defeat, Aiava dropped a bombshell on her fans and followers. She hinted at her retirement from the sport, citing “hateful comments and death threats” as her reason. “I’ve made the executive decision to retire due to receiving hate msgs comments and death threats after every single loss,” Aiava expressed on X before taking her account offline.
The video of Aiava’s outburst following her Prague defeat has since been circulating on Reddit, showing the Australian’s raw emotions at the loss. Corey Gaal, Aiava’s fiance, was present at the scene and attempted to console the visibly upset player.
However, Aiava’s retirement claim seems to be more of a spur-of-the-moment decision rather than a finalized one. As of now, the World No. 155 is not hanging up her racket and is ready to compete in the ITF event in Trnava this week. She is set to face off against Veronika Erjavec in the first round.
Despite the recent setback, Aiava’s 2025 has been off to a promising start. She won three qualifying matches to secure her first Australian Open main draw since 2021. In addition, she reached the second round after a thrilling victory over Greetje Minnen, even after facing two match points.
Even though her run was halted by Danielle Collins, Aiava’s performance at the Australian Open earned her a significant $200k in prize money. The financial boost was a welcomed relief for Aiava, who revealed the struggles of managing finances while participating in a high-cost sport like tennis.
The increased prize money has allowed her to afford a travel companion for the year’s tournaments. “It means that I can bring someone to travel with this year and I can afford to actually go to all the tournaments that I want to,” Aiava shared. She also expressed her excitement at being able to bring along her fiancé and potentially a family member to the major tournaments.
