Destanee Aiava criticises ‘weird and hostile’ Australian team culture at United Cup

Rising tennis star Destanee Aiava has criticised Australia’s United Cup culture, revealing some uncomfortable insights from behind the scenes.

Rising tennis star Destanee Aiava has criticised Australia’s United Cup culture, revealing she did not feel at home while competing in the green and gold team.

While she had nothing but good things to say about the tournament itself, the same couldn’t be said for her experience within the Australian team environment, which included Alex de Minaur, Matthew Ebden, Olivia Gadecki, and Ellen Perez.

Aiava pulled no punches when it came to criticising the lack of team spirit within her squad, describing the atmosphere as “weird and hostile”.

The 24-year-old World No. 194 shared a raw video titled “my honest experience and review of the week I had,” where she opened up about her frustrations with the team dynamic.

“So far I’ve had a good time at the event itself,” Aiava explained, while Australia was still in the tournament. “Regarding our team, yeah, it’s not felt so welcoming.”

Throughout the 28-minute Youtube video, Aiava used finger quotes around the word “team” and made it clear that the event felt more like an individual competition than a team event.

She gave the experience a “2 out of 10”, smashing the “pretty poor” team culture that she believes didn’t measure up compared to other countries.

Rising tennis star Destanee Aiava (second from right) has criticised Australia’s United Cup culture, revealing she did not feel at home while competing in the green and gold team. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Aiava pulled no punches when it came to criticising the lack of team spirit within her squad, describing the atmosphere as ‘weird and hostile’. Picture: Mark Stewart

“I understand that we’re in a competitive environment, but I thought being in a team, playing a team event, it would feel a bit different,” she said.

“It’s not team-based at all, we pretty much just do whatever we want, by ourselves. And then, when everyone has to play, that’s when we all come together as a ‘team.’”

She joked about possibly “getting cancelled” for her comments but continued her spiel nevertheless.

When it came to interactions with her teammates, said Aiava just wasn’t feeling the camaraderie.

News.com.au has contacted Tennis Australia for comment.

“There’s been like, at most, two people that I’ve actually properly conversed with on the team, maybe three,” she said.

As one of the lower-ranked players on the squad, Aiava didn’t end up getting a chance to compete in any of the live matches and in turn felt under appreciated.

“I’m just going to go train again today,” she said before the match against Great Britain, “because that’s all I’m good for this week.”

After losing three of their first five matches, Australia had their entire United Cup campaign hang in the balance, with a win in the mixed doubles needed progress as the best runners-up.

They eventually lost their hope of a quarter-finals appearance in a straight-sets loss to

‘I understand that we’re in a competitive environment, but I thought being in a team, playing a team event, it would feel a bit different.’ (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images for Tennis Australia)

Aiava is now preparing for her Monday afternoon Australian Open qualifiers clash against World No. 111.

“This week wasn’t the best prep for AO,” Aiava said after the tournament.

“In fact, it could have been the worst prep I’ve ever had, like match-wise. So it’s fair to say that I won’t be ever entering United Cup ever again, unless I’m the No. 1 player, because then I’ll be guaranteed a match—but I guess that’s my fault.”

“I would say everything else was good, besides the actual team camaraderie,” she added. “Would I recommend other people to play it? If you’re the No. 1 person on your team, go for it. If not, run for your life.”