Professional tennis players are facing increasing online abuse, with angry gamblers responsible for a significant percentage of threats and insulting messages directed at athletes.
British tennis player Jodie Burrage has spoken out after receiving abusive messages and death threats on social media following her defeat to Indian wildcard Vaishnavi Adkar.
The 27-year-old lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in her first WTA Tour singles match in 16 months in Chennai, India.
Following the match, Burrage said she received several threatening messages from angry fans and gamblers.
Speaking to BBC Sport on Friday, Burrage revealed that she had become accustomed to online abuse but admitted that some messages could be difficult to ignore, particularly when she was already dealing with personal and professional challenges.
“You’ve got to have thick skin. There was some brutal stuff that was said, but I don’t take it to heart,” she said.
She added that the abuse happens regardless of whether players win or lose their matches.
Burrage recently shared screenshots of some of the abusive messages on Instagram to draw attention to the growing problem and called on social media platforms to introduce stronger measures to hold users accountable.
According to a report by the WTA and World Tennis, angry gamblers were responsible for 42 per cent of all verified online abuse detected during the 2025 season.
The report was based on information gathered through the Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service, which monitors abusive messages and threats directed at professional players.
The growing problem has also raised concerns about the relationship between tennis tournaments and gambling companies, with some competitions entering sponsorship agreements with betting firms.
Burrage believes social media platforms should introduce identity verification for users to discourage people from hiding behind anonymous accounts to threaten athletes.
She also stressed that players should be able to compete without constantly worrying about abusive messages from disappointed bettors.
Despite the experience, the British player said she remained focused on rebuilding her career after injuries and illness kept her away from singles competition for several months.
Having improved her world ranking to 474 from a low of 888 in July, Burrage said her major target was to prepare for a successful 2027 season.
She insisted that online abuse would not distract her from achieving her career goals.
PUNCH Online had reported that Burrage was subjected to death threats and online abuse after losing her first WTA Tour singles match in 16 months.
