Sam slams Daria trolls

GOLD Coaster Sam Stosur has decried social media trolls after Daria Gavrilova was the subject of abuse yesterday.

Gavrilova was forced to block people from commenting on her Instagram account after the local favourite copped extreme heat from punters who had backed her to win on Wednesday night.

Gavrilova surrendered a 5-0 first-set lead against Belgian Elise Mertens in a match that started a tick before midnight and lost the match 7-5, 6-3.

She later revealed “fans” had added insult to her injury, posting: “Shhh to all the betting people. I copped it hard last night. Only people I follow can comment on my posts now... so my family doesn’t see all the ‘love’ I get.”

WTA player council member Stosur said it was disappointing people felt the need to be vicious.

“I don’t think people quite understand sometimes the effect it can have when you get someone writing really nasty things,” she said.