In case you were living under a rock, there is a lot of talk about American tennis player Tennys Sandgren and it’s not just about his surprising run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Due to his new-found fame, Sandgren’s social media profiles have come under scrutiny for their content.

For the sake of transparency, Cracked Racquets as a social media brand and its individual staff members have had personal interactions with Sandgren. They were professional and pleasant.

We will lay out the facts as we think we know them and provide the context where we can. To be clear, we are not investigative journalists. We have done the best we can to provide a neutral, honest picture of the events that have transpired.

If you would like to read an opinion-based blogs, you can read Big Toss (first to cover this subject back in 2016), Outkick the Coverage or basically any other media network on the planet that has an editorial on the matter.

What did Tennys Sandgren do?

Sandgren is under fire for tweets, retweets and follows that some say align him with alt-right, racism and biogotry. Below are a sampling of the tweets and interactions. This thread on Twitter seems to be the most comprehensive list of Sandgren’s tweets that have drawn the most criticism.

Sandgren’s Twitter bio says “likes/rtwts are not endorsements.”

Context: Debunked Pizzagate Conspiracy Theory

Context: Nicholas Fuentes is a conservative video personality who denies being a white nationalist but attended the Charlottesville rally alongside Nazis and Klansmen. Sandgren has retweeted and replied to him on several occasions.

Context: The US Open crowd in 2013 cheered on the opponent of fellow American John Isner and this was Sandgren’s tweet either during or right after the match ended.

Context: A back-and-forth with former American tennis player James Blake about social justice. We have not found the screenshot of the full conversation since it was deleted.

Context: Spirit Cooking was a debunked conspiracy theory about Hilary Clinton performing satanic rituals.

Context: Infowars is a conservative, conspiracy theorist website.

Context: He accidentally went into a gay bar and tweeted his reaction.

What has been Tennys Sandgren’s response?

Sandgren read a prepared statement after his quarterfinal loss to Hyeon Chung, addressing the controversy.

Here is the statement which Tennys Sandgren read off his phone to open his press conference. Hostile, determined delivery. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/KQVM1jrBsG — Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 24, 2018

Here is the video:

“With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds.” 🇺🇸 @TennysSandgren reads a written statement to open his post-match press conference.#7Tennis #AusOpen #Sandgren pic.twitter.com/eo974IcF0d — #7TENNIS 🎾 (@7tennis) January 24, 2018

He was initially asked about the subject after his fourth-round upset over Dominic Thiem. Click here to view his reaction and his statements in full.

Sandgren also wiped most of his Twitter history after the 4th round match before subsequently deleting it all except for one tweet from Bad Toss which was a link to a blog highlight Sandgren’s win at the ATP Challenger event in Champaign. Bad Toss is also the same publication to be the first one to scrutinize and highlight Sandgren’s social media activity.

The Last American Challenger: An homage to @TennysSandgren, @BillyHeiser and a love letter to Champaign: http://t.co/XPWB9dlHF1 — BadToss (@BadToss) November 19, 2013

When asked by Chris McKendry about all of the deleted tweets, Sandgren said “It’s not something that I’m really necessarily embarrassed about or anything like that, it’s just creating a version of a cleaner start is not a bad call. And people can screenshot and save and distribute everything that they would like to. I know that and that’s fine. It is what it is. Just something that I thought wouldn’t be a bad way to move forward.”

UPDATE: Sandgren has responded about the gay club tweet specifically.

In regards to the gay club tweet from 2012, I used poor and harsh words to describe a bad experience, and is not indicative of how I feel about the people in that community. To everyone I offended with that, pls accept my apology — Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) January 25, 2018

What is the beef between Serena Williams and Tennys Sandgren?

First, there was this tweet.

This now-deleted tweet that linked to an article about Serena Williams screaming towards her opponent Roberta Vinci.

Williams’ initially sub-tweeted Sangren when his match with Chung was set to begin.

Turns channel — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 24, 2018

Later, Williams would directly address Sandgren.

@TennysSandgren I don’t need or want one. But there is a entire group of people that deserves an apology. I cant look at my daughter and tell her I sat back and was quiet. No! she will know how to stand up for herself and others- through my example. ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/im2NhoMdN4 — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 24, 2018

Where does Cracked Racquets Stand?

Generally, this heavy sort of subject matter wouldn’t normally be something we talk about. We like to focus on the lighter side of tennis or the more analytical/nerdy parts of the sport.

This is a story that has to be covered, though. After all, it is rare for tennis news to become a major national and international story line.

Credit to SI’s Jon Wertheim for hitting the perfect note.

Don’t think it’s being ignored. Candidly: I think many of us are calibrating the balance between his free speech, his views that cause offense to many, his response when asked, and to what extent this should obscure/overtake his career moment… https://t.co/rqoHlG4izr — Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) January 23, 2018

We’ll end this blog with another quote from Wertheim who may have put things best in his always excellent reader Q&A: “This issue has been discussed on broadcasts and in columns. Fans now decide whether to root for the guy or not, whether to overlook this or condemn this in the harshest terms. Sponsors can decide whether or not this is a player they want to align with. Other players can decide how to interact with this colleague.”

The ball is in your court.