I’m going to say something strong, something that might annoy some people, but honestly? Who careeees. Today we’re wild and free, and yes, this is going to be long.
Tennis is becoming an almost toxic sport. And let me be very clear: this is not a classist take. I’m not here to say “it was better when fewer people followed it” or “now that it’s popular it’s just a trend and you’re not real fans unless you’ve been watching since Wingfield invented it.” That’s not the point at all.
The real issue is how, especially in the last few years (but 2025 in a truly unhinged way), everything that happens in this world is treated, both on and off the court.
Today’s news about Juanki and Carlos is a perfect example. I ended up reading articles and headlines that were less about information and more about pure speculation. Stuff that looked more like Tumblr rant posts than actual journalism. And coming from people who are supposed to have studied and earned the right to write and spread this kind of news. As a journalism student, trust me, it genuinely makes me want to cry.
At this point, every single step taken by an ATP or WTA player is commented on, judged, turned into news. Even things that are blatantly false. Blatantly useless. Blatantly misleading. And people still eat it up. They believe it, spread it, add their own takes, until the comment sections are full of completely absurd stuff built on misinformation.
And as if that weren’t enough, the tennis “fandom” (obviously not all of it, but apparently we still need to spell that out) somehow manages to make everything even worse.
You have the full spectrum:
obsessive fans with a very clear parasocial relationship with X player, where everything they do is perfect, flawless, beyond criticism, and if you dare say one wrong thing they’ll tear you apart;
hardcore haters who take every possible excuse to insult and drag Y player;
the puritans who lose their minds over player ships because “it’s inappropriate, disrespectful, improper” (and no, I’m not only talking about Sincaraz, even if that’s the most obvious one);
and then the people who seem to have completely forgotten the concept of RPF altogether.
All of this has turned the tennis world into one giant panic room.
And it honestly hurts to say this, because I love this sport. I love Carlos. I love the Sincaraz dynamic. I’ve spent hours of my life commenting, writing, obsessing over tennis, over this ship, over these players. But right now, I truly believe the healthiest thing to do is to take a big detox from the toxic, misinformed, gossip-driven side of this world.
Just to be able to enjoy tennis again for what it’s supposed to be: beauty, emotion, joy.
Without the heavy, invasive, exhausting layer of this awful alternative reality that’s been suffocating it lately.
