22-Year Old Rising Tennis Star Calls it Quits: Is Cyberbullying to Blame?

Rebecca Marino definitely quit while she was ahead. The young tennis player had been named Tennis Canada Female Player of the Year twice in her short career and soared to #30 on the WTA singles rankings. So why did she call it quits in mid-flight? According to Marino herself, cyberbullying played a part.

Though she admits that her battle with depression began long before the online attacks, according to the Toronto Star, Marino says that social media was partially to blame:

“Things were being written about me, and I’m quite sensitive about that. And I’m quite nosy, so I’ll look it up. And then I’ll realize I shouldn’t have looked it up,” Marino said in an interview following her announcement.

NBC Sports reports that many of the athlete’s virtual attackers were gamblers who lost money betting on her matches.