Tennys Sandgren condemns 'sensationalist' press for 'demonising' him over political views

The world No 97 deleted his entire Twitter account earlier in the week after reports that he had followed or retweeted comments by some important members of the alt-right

Tennys Sandgren released a statement in his press conference after losing to Hyeon Chung in the semi-finals (Getty)

Tennys Sandgren’s Australian Open would have been memorable even if he had not uttered a word during the whole tournament but the 26-year-old American ensured that he would be remembered for much more after an extraordinary press conference here on Wednesday.

Sandgren, who had only ever won two tour-level matches before arriving in Melbourne, accused journalists of “demonising” him with their “sensationalist” reporting of his political opinions after going down 6-4 7-6 6-3 to Hyeon Chung in the quarter-finals.

The world No 97 had deleted his entire Twitter account earlier in the week after reports that he had followed or retweeted comments by some important members of the alt-right, including the controversial Nicholas Fuentes, who attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last year in which a protester was killed. A tweet from Fuentes calling Sandgren a supporter and friend also appeared to have been deleted.

At the start of his press conference following his defeat to Chung Sandgren read out a statement and announced that he would answer questions only about tennis.

“You seek to put people in these little boxes so that you can order the world in your already assumed pre-conceived ideas,” Sandgren told reporters, reading from his phone. “You strip away any individuality for the sake of demonising by way of the collective.

“With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds. To write an edgy story, to create sensationalist coverage, there are few lengths you wouldn't go to to mark me as the man you desperately want me to be.

“You would rather perpetuate propaganda machines instead of researching information from a host of angles and perspectives while being willing to learn, change and grow.

“You dehumanise with pen and paper and turn neighbour against neighbour. In so doing, you may actually find you’re hastening the hell you wish to avoid, the hell we all wish to avoid.

“It is my firm belief that the highest value must be placed on the virtue of each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. It’s my job to continue on this journey with the goal of becoming the best me I can and to embody the love Christ has for me, for I answer to Him and Him alone.”

Two days ago Sandgren denied that he shared the opinions of alt-right figures but said he found some of what they said “interesting”.

Although the American insisted that the controversy surrounding him had not affected his performances on the court, he said he was looking forward to going home, being with his family, turning off his phone and reflecting on what had happened over the last two weeks.

Sandgren has accused the press of stripping away his individuality (Getty)

“I constantly try to be introspective as to what’s going on in my life,” he said. “This has been a lot of information to digest in the last few weeks, so I need to take ample time to do so, so I can move forward correctly.”

When asked about the prize money that he would take home from here, Sandgren said: “I really don't care that much about money, so it doesn't really matter to me that much. The fact that I have resources to be able to pay for the things I'd like to, like a coach, continue to be able to do that, maybe have a physio travel with me on the road more, help my mum. She works real hard to support herself. I'd like to be able to help her some, too.

“So that's cool. But the number going up in the bank account really doesn't matter to me that much. I try to work hard every day, and that's where I get my satisfaction from.”