Tennis player Carson Branstine, the Canadian who financed her tennis career by modelling for brands such as Zara and Lululemon, qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon as the world No. 197.
I would say I’m 90% tennis player and 10% model, but you have to choose your battles wisely
The Canadian, who caused an upset in the run-up by beating France’s Lois Boisson (a Roland Garros semi-finalist), lost 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the London grass-court tournament against Aryna Sabalenka.
Carson Branstine: “The most common hate comments get to me for being a model”
Carson Branstine, who has risen to world number 175, gave an interview to ‘SunSport’ in which she confessed that she almost quit tennis this year and shared her struggle against trolls who belittle her on social media.
They call me alien. They say ‘your eyes look very far apart’ and ‘you’re an alien’. Thank you. I consider myself alien all the time
“People like to comment on things when they actually know nothing, but it doesn’t bother me… The most common hate comments get to me for being a model, so it’s like saying: ‘Thank you guys, you’re not saying anything I don’t know,” she told Kealan Hughes in The Sun.
‘Oh, you look like a man or you look like a boy and you have masculine features’…
Carson Branstine says “I get called an alien. I’ve seen comments, I’ve been DM’d and stuff on different articles, Twitter, Instagram or wherever, saying, ‘Oh, your eyes look really far apart’ and ‘you’re an alien’. I’m like, ‘That’s literally the point. Thank you. I consider myself an alien all the time.”
“I’m an alien. I say it all the time. So it’s like, okay, a confirmation, or people say, ‘Oh, you look like a man or you look like a boy and you have masculine features’. I reply that that’s the point. That’s what’s quoted in the fashion industry. So I tell them, thank you for confirming that Wilhelmina (she also works with The Outfit agency) made a great decision in hiring me, because it’s great. I’m totally fine with it,” she said.
Carson Branstine, who began her modeling career at the age of seven only to put it on hold during her teenage years, admitted that “I would say I’m 90% tennis player and 10% model, but you have to choose your battles wisely”.
“I wouldn’t say modeling is a stress-free activity as a hobby, but I like it. I think I always need something a little stressful. That’s the way I am. To be a high-level tennis player, or literally anything, you have to be a little crazy. So it suits me,” she explained.
Carson Branstine: “I feel like I could be friends with Aryna Sabalenka”
About her match against Aryna Sabalenka on Court 1 at Wimbledon, she remembers that after losing the first five points, she felt a great relief to win her first point: “When I got it, it was an absolute relief. I thought, ‘Oh, thank God.’ And I wanted everyone to feel the same way I did. I really like connecting with the crowd. So I’m glad it thrilled everyone. It was a very special moment.”
“Aryna Sabalenka was very nice. I like her as a person. She’s a great girl, an incredible player. I feel like I could be friends with her. Maybe I will be in time,” she shared.
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