Serena Williams gives a thumbs down to fellow American Tennys Sandgren at Australian Open

TENNYS Sandgren read a message to the world media as he bowed out at Melbourne Park. A few hours later, Serena Williams had her own message for the beaten Australian Open quarter finalist.

BEFORE Tennys Sandgren left this year’s Australian Open, he managed to pad his Twitter celebrity by upsetting the queen herself.

Sandgren, the American surprise in Melbourne, lost his quarterfinals bout to South Korean sensation Hyeon Chung 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

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As an unheralded tennis pro ranked No. 96, it was a marvelous run that no one really expected. It included upsets of Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka and Austrian upstart Dominic Thiem that’ll catapult Sandgren up the ATP rankings.

Sandgren’s success, though, was overshadowed by his tweets, specifically his political takes, which became too much of a distraction and forced Sandgren to wipe away several years of tweeting to “move forward” with a “cleaner start.”

Tennys Sandgren erased a lot of tweets.

Serena Williams missed the Australian Open.

Except that fresh start ended when Serena Williams first threw shade at Sandgren during his match, when she said:

Turns channel

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 24, 2018

It was a subtle dig at Sandgren, who called a video of her yelling at Roberta Vinci at the 2015 US Open “disgusting.”

Then all hell broke loose.

@TennysSandgren I don't need or want one. But there is a entire group of people that deserves an apology. I cant look at my daughter and tell her I sat back and was quiet. No! she will know how to stand up for herself and others- through my example. ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/im2NhoMdN4

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 24, 2018

After his loss, Sandgren started his post-match press conference by reading a statement from his cellphone in which he blamed the media for exploiting his politics and tarnishing his miracle run in the year’s first Grand Slam. Below was his opening statement:

“You seek to put people in these little boxes so that you can order the world in your already assumed preconceived ideas. You strip away any individuality for the sake of demonizing by way of the collective.

With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds. To write an edgy story, to create sensationalist coverage, there are a few lengths you wouldn’t go to to mark me as the man you desperately want me to be.

You would rather perpetuate propaganda machines instead of researching information from a host of angles and perspectives while being willing to learn, change, and grow. You dehumanize with pen and paper and turn neighbor against neighbor. In so doing, you may actually find you’re hastening the hell you wish to avoid, the hell we all wish to avoid.

It is my firm belief that the highest value must be placed on the virtue of each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. It’s my job to continue on this journey with the goal of becoming the best me I can and to embody the love Christ has for me, for I answer to Him and Him alone. I’ll take questions about the match, if you guys don’t mind. Thank you. If you have any questions about the match.”

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