Marino Is Hurt By Negative Online Comments

Written by: Staff on 19th February 2013

Rebecca Marino of Canada and Ksenia Pervak of Russia

Marino Is Hurt By Negative Online Comments

epa03115450 Rebecca Marino of Canada hits a return to Ksenia Pervak of Russia during their first round match in the Memphis International tennis tournament in Memphis, Tennessee, USA 21 February 2012. Pervak won the match 6-2, 6-4. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Gambling in tennis and its relationship to social media and the internet in general lead to a hiatus for promising young player Rebecca Marino of Canada.

Marino took a seven-month hiatus last year, which she said was party caused by reading about herself online.

“Things were being written about me, and I’m quite sensitive about that,” Marino told the New York Times. “And I’m quite nosy, so I’ll look it up. And then I’ll realize I shouldn’t have looked it up. With professional athletes, people put them on a pedestal sometimes, and they forget that they’re actually a person still. You know, there’s that saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me,’ ” she said. “But that’s not true. Names definitely hurt. Words hurt.”

Marino reached a career high of No. 38 in July 2011, the same year she reached the final of Memphis. A tall woman with a huge serve and powerful groundstrokes, the 23 -year-old only played four WTA level events in 2012 before returning to Future and Challenger level play in late September.

Her coaches and family advised her to take some time off. She was stung by some of the online messages that were written about her by gamblers after she lost.

“They’ll say, ‘You gave that match away, you cost me such-and-such amount of money, you should go burn in hell,’ or ‘You should go die,’ ” Marino said. “And oh, my gosh, that is really scary.”

Now ranked No. 418, Marino is back on Twitter and on Monday warmly thanked all of the fans that send her positive messages after reading about her experience. She is not planning on backing down when it comes to responding to her critics.

“Don’t be afraid of the stigma of it, and talk about it,” she said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you’re being bullied, or cyber bullied, or someone’s harassing you, it’s better to be open about it and talk to someone about it than to hold it inside.”

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Rebecca Marino, Sports, Tennis, tennis sports, Wta