Iva Jovic condemns social media abuse following Ningbo Open loss

American tennis player Iva Jovic has spoken out against a wave of social media abuse following her quarter-final exit at the Ningbo Open. The 18-year-old, seeded fourth in the WTA 500 event, lost a three-set match to Diana Shnaider with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Following the defeat, Jovic took to Instagram to share examples of the hateful messages directed at her, posting a brief plea to her followers: “Just insane. Be kind everyone.”

The loss follows a series of recent performances during Jovic's Asian swing, including a fourth-round exit at the China Open and a third-round loss at the Wuhan Open. Jovic previously noted in an interview that she is working on her mindset regarding defeats to focus on areas for improvement.