Professional tennis player Kylie McKenzie was awarded $9 million in damages in May after sharing her experience with the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
Professional tennis player Kylie McKenzie was awarded $9 million in damages in May after sharing her experience with the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
Between the ages of 12 and 18, McKenzie traveled frequently to various USTA facilities. At 19, she moved to a USTA training location in Orlando, Florida, and began training under coach Anibal Aranda.
Aranda allegedly began to make inappropriate comments about McKenzie’s body, appearance, and personal life. Soon, his behavior escalated to unwanted physical contact.
During an October 2018 coaching session, Aranda claimed to initiate a “serving drill,” and stood so close to the young athlete that his entire body was pressed against her. According to the lawsuit, each time McKenzie practiced the “serve loading motion,” Coach Aranda’s fingers moved “lower and lower down her groin and underwear line.”
Less than a month after this incident, McKenzie states that Aranda “placed his hand on her thigh at the end of a practice session” before eventually “sliding his hand under a towel on her lap and rubbing her groin over her clothes.”
Shortly after McKenzie came forward about the abuse, the US Center for SafeSport began their investigation of Aranda. The non-profit organization operates with a goal of “safeguarding athletes from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.”
The US Center for SafeSport found that Aranda had existing allegations from an incident in 2015. A New York City nightclub employee accused the tennis coach of groping her and assaulting her before following her outside as she called a taxi.
During the trial, Pam Shriver, a renowned tennis champion, testified about her own experiences of abuse within the community. She reported her own coach for unwanted sexual advances and was immediately warned by a USTA attorney to “be careful making public statements about sexual abuse incidents in professional tennis.”
Kylie McKenzie, now 25, has stated publicly that she suffers from lasting effects of her trauma. Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks have significantly diminished her love for the sport and her athletic performance.
“My confidence and my self-esteem [is] gone,” McKenzie said, “both on and off the court.”
Although Anibal Aranda denies the claims, his seven-year employment with the USTA was terminated after the investigation concluded.
McKenzie’s attorney, Robert Allard, remains wary of the USTA. “I am convinced that the only way to make true change… is to effect a complete overhaul of leadership, from its CEO all the way down to its underhanded and heartless lawyers. Considering what is at stake, I will personally not rest until this is done,” he said in an interview with CNN.
A Florida federal court jury awarded McKenzie $3 million in compensatory damages and $6 million in punitive damages.
“I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I feel validated,” McKenzie said in a post trial statement. “It was very hard, but I feel now that it was all worth it. I hope I can be an example for other girls to speak out even when it’s difficult.”
Authors: Andy Goldwasser and Alexis Kabat
