"I think she was the hostile one in the Aussie team" - Fans baffled by angry 'chair throwing' incident involving Destanee Aiava

Destanee Aiava, the 24-year-old Australian WTA player, recently stirred controversy among tennis fans after a rather shocking incident involving her came to light. The incident featured an angry Aiava picking up a chair and throwing it at a wall following her loss in the final of an ITF W75 tournament.

On Sunday, February 23, Aiava suffered a 4-6, 6-3, 5-7 defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic's Gabriela Knutson in the final of the ITF W75 Prague. Shortly after the conclusion of the match, the Australian couldn't contain her emotions and proceeded to take her frustrations out on a courtside chair by hurling it at a wall.

Aiava after losing the W75 final to Knutson byu/jovanmilic97 intennis

Tennis fans on Reddit later criticized Destanee Aiava for her unsportsmanlike behavior. Several of them brought up her controversial comments about the Australian team at the 2025 United Cup. Following the end of Australia's run at the international mixed-team tennis event, Aiava had slammed the environment within the team, referring to it as "weird and hostile" via a YouTube vlog.

"I think she was the hostile one in the Aussie team," a fan wrote.

"This woman has tried to insert herself into every conversation possible to generate attention - outfits, comments about team spirit during United Cup, personality disorders, anything and everything except the actual job at hand (i.e. winning tennis matches). This is just not what it's about and not a shortcut to success," commented another.

"Totally agreed. She's definitely just another tennis brat trying to gain popularity / tennis influencer status by saying sassy sh1t. She did not come across as a nice person at all in that vlog posted on here in which she complains about her Aussie team members not being friendly with her in the United cup," another fan chimed in.

Here are more reactions from fans to Aiava's behavior following her W75 final loss to Knutson:

"What a brat," wrote one fan.

"This forum likes her because she says some sassy s**t on social media . She’s just another tennis brat like many others," another fan echoed the previous fan's sentiments.

"Ngl the contrast between the two is kinda hilarious. Aiava puts way more effort into the chair throwing than Knutson does into the little celebration lol," yet another fan weighed in.

Aiava later made worrying claims online before deleting one of her social media profiles.

Destanee Aiava makes concerning 'hate and death threat' claim; hints at early retirement before abrupt social media deletion

Destanee Aiava at the 2025 Australian Open (Source: Getty)

Not long after losing the W75 final in Prague, Destanee Aiava shared a post on X (formerly Twitter). In the post, Aiava stated her decision to retire from professional career. The Australian opined that repeated hate messages and death threats from critics after her losses led her to take the decision.

"I’ve made the executive decision to retire due to receiving hate msgs/comments and death threats after every single loss," Destanee Aiava wrote.

However, shortly after putting out the post, the 24-year-old deleted her X profile.

Destanee Aiava, despite being regarded as a player with talent and potential, has struggled to consistently produce her best tennis. Her mental health struggles have also played a part in this. In 2022, she laid bare that she had tried to end her own life but was prevented in the nick of time by a few strangers. Later that same year, she was clinically diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

The Australian made her Grand Slam main draw debut earlier this year on home soil at the Australian Open. However, she could not get past Danielle Collins in the second round. Throughout the match, the home crowd was hostile towards Collins, and Aiava later said that she had no objection to the crowd's behavior.