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Tennis: Sandgren deletes hundreds of tweets before denying far-right sympathies at Australian Open

American tennis player Tennys Sandgren has deleted 18 months’ worth of tweets and denied he is a far-right sympathiser, after his political views came under scrutiny at the Australian Open.

The 26-year-old is enjoying the finest run of his career at the Grand Slam, and beat fifth seed Dominic Thiem in a thrilling five-set marathon on Monday to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

After his victory, Sandgren was asked about his social media presence, including his support for President Donald Trump and Nicholas Fuentes, a Boston University student who attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in which a protestor was killed.

And by Tuesday morning Sandgren had deleted hundreds of tweets, including a debate with former tennis player James Blake on racial injustice and messages supporting Brexit.

But he still follows a number of controversial figures, including the former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson.

Sandgren had earlier denied supporting the alt-right movement, although he conceded he found some of the contest “interesting”.

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“Who you follow on Twitter I feel doesn't matter even a little bit,” he said. “What information you see doesn't dictate what you think or believe. To say, well, he's following X person so he believes all the things that this person believes, I think it's ridiculous.

“That's not how information works. If you watch a news channel, you wouldn't then say that person who is watching the news channel thinks everything that news channel puts out.

“I'm not concerned about it. And I don't think any kind of engagement in that way dictates that you then are right in there with that particular person. I don't think it works that way.

“I find some of the content interesting. But no, I don't (support it), not at all. As a firm Christian, I don't support things like that. I support Christ and following Him. That's what I support.”

Sandgren stunned Thiem in the fourth round (Getty)
Sandgren stunned Thiem in the fourth round (Getty)

Sandgren next plays Hyeon Chung, who upset former champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, for a place in the last four of the tournament. He had previously never won a match at a Grand Slam.