Samoan-Australian athlete Destanee Aiava has defied expectations and silenced critics at the 2025 Australian Open.  Securing three consecutive wins, this WTA star has impressed the fraternity, proving her potential on the grand stage. However, Aiava’s journey to success was far from easy, as she lacked role models to guide her in the sport. In a recent discussion, she opened up about her challenges highlighting how she overcame barriers to inspire her community to embrace this sport.

Aiava returned to the Australian Open main draw for the first time after 2021. This Samoan-Australian athlete successfully passed the qualifying rounds of the 2025 Melbourne Major to earn her place in the main draw and impressed the fraternity with her performance. She fought against all the odds to show her skill in the sport, overpowering Germany’s Eva Lys 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Despite the warm hug she shared with her mother post-victory, she revealed to ABC Pacific News how lonely it has been for her to be a Samoan-Australian player and have no idol from her community to look up to.

“I mean, tennis is already lonely as it is but seeing people that don’t really look like me for my entire life, I’ve kind of struggled with a bit. I do get a lot of messages and even just passing by, different people coming up to me and saying that their kids have started tennis because of you. And most of the time they’re all Islander, which is really nice. Growing up, they were only playing rugby and netball. It’s quite different seeing people like me playing tennis now a lot more. Still not as much as you’d like to see but it is really special and another confirmation that we can also play other sports that aren’t just rugby or netball or, I don’t know becoming a rapper,” said the WTA star. Her honest words highlighted her happiness in seeing her community people breaking the stereotype and enjoying other sports like Rugby or netball.

Destanee Aiava’s journey this far wasn’t easy. She qualified for the 2021 Australian Open main draw but exited the tournament in the first round after losing 6-4, 6-4 against Samantha Stosur in the John Cain Arena. Four years later, her return to her home Grand Slam event’s main draw showcased her hard work and indomitable spirit. “I just thought play free, don’t think ahead, because I know I’ve done it before here as well, and I didn’t get through. I really wanted to just clear my mind. All I thought about was the next serve,” said the young star.

But the journey has not been entirely smooth sailing, for even recently, Aiava faced serious shaming for her body type. However, she replied back to the criticisms without any hesitation. Her response oozed confidence, highlighting that she is a warrior determined to establish her name in tennis.

Destanee Aiava attacked the trolls back for their degrading comment about her body

Apart from her impressive performance, Aiava received the spotlight for donning some exclusive outfits from the past, worn by renowned players. For example, Aiava wore Maria Sharapova’s iconic 2012 US Open purple attire and Ana Ivanovic’s 2009 Australian Open dresses. The fraternity loved her references to on-court fashion moments of the bygone days. For example, journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted a collage of Aiava and Sharapova wearing similar outfits and called it a “fun archival fashion moment.” Some people loved her dressing sense and complimented her by saying they are “liking her style,” “who is this queen,” and “these are so good, hope she keeps going!” 

However, not all the comments were compliments for the WTA star. Some chose to brutally attack her body type and commented, “Not to hate or body shame anyone but Destanee Aiava needs to lose some weight to get more quick on her feet IMO.” The comment made Aiava angry and she replied back to the troll saying, “Shut the f**k up. ‘Not to hate’ or ‘body shame’ and then you went and hated and body shamed.” She also made a separate post and wrote, “Good job triggering my ED (eating disorder).”  After that, the troll apologized to Aiava accepting that they were “extremely sorry.” Nevertheless, the incident highlighted the unacceptable body shaming faced by Aiava, something that has been par for the course for female tennis players since time immemorial.

Regardless, Destanee Aiava’s recent Australian Open milestone showcases her potential to become a top-ranked player in the future. If she performs with a similar zeal and spirit, she might also go deep in the Melbourne major – perhaps even signal to the fans that she might be ready to reclaim her position in the sport. Do you think she can make it?