All-time great Serena Williams has given the thumbs down to compatriot Tennys Sandgren as the unheralded American headed for the exit door at the Australian Open.
“Turns channel,” the 23-time major winner tweeted as Sandgren took the court in his quarter-final with fellow outsider Hyeon Chung.
Sandgren, the world No.97, lost the match 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to end his dream run at Melbourne Park.
The missive comes after Sandgren’s rise from tennis obscurity brought to light his confronting politics, as detailed on his Twitter feed.
Among the tweets were support for out-of-this-world conspiracy theories, the alt-right politics of Donald Trump and anti-gay vitriol.
And a dislike of Williams.
One tweet, now deleted, said simply “disgusting”, with pictures of Williams and a link to a video where the 36-year-old appears to swear, mid-match, at her opponent.
Another reportedly read “any day Serena loses is a good day”.
Williams isn’t defending her title at Melbourne Park after the birth of her first child in September.
As a Jehovah’s Witness, the 36-year-old does not vote but has previously expressed support for former president Barack Obama.
She is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and has supported fundraising efforts for marginalised communities and anti-violence initiatives.
Sandgren, a 26-year-old Tennessee native, deleted all but one of his tweets in response to scrutiny of his political views.
Among the deleted tweets was one from November 2016 where Sandgren appeared to back the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy linking then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to a supposed child sex abuse ring at a Washington pizzeria.
And earlier this month, he retweeted a video from white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes.
While the scrutiny has brought Sandgren much interrogation and angst, he received a standing ovation from the Rod Laver Arena crowd after his straight-sets loss to Chung.
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