MONTREAL — Ukrainian tennis participant Elina Svitolina spoke out concerning the deluge of hateful abuse she obtained on-line from pissed off gamblers after shedding a match in Canada, together with messages wishing her loss of life and celebrating Russia killing her compatriots.
Following her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka within the quarterfinals of the Nationwide Financial institution Open on Tuesday evening, Svitolina posted screenshots of the messages to Instagram.
The abuse was directed at her, whereas racial slurs additionally focused her husband, French tennis participant Gael Monfils, who’s Black. One abuser hoped that Russia “kills all you [expletive] Ukrainians” within the warfare raging in Svitolina’s nation.
“To all of the bettors: I am a mum earlier than I am an athlete,” Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. “The best way you speak to girls – to moms – is SHAMEFUL. In case your moms noticed your messages, they’d be disgusted.”
Earlier this yr, British player Katie Boulter stated she obtained loss of life threats throughout the French Open focusing on her and her household, whereas the WTA and ITF known as on betting corporations to do extra to stem the flood of on-line abuse gamers face on social media.
Boulter advised the BBC in an interview that on-line abuse has turn out to be the norm and that she thinks lots of the messages are despatched by people who find themselves inserting bets on tennis matches.
Her feedback coincided with the WTA and ITF publishing a primary seasonwide report into on-line abuse, exhibiting that 458 tennis gamers had been focused by greater than 8,000 abusive feedback and posts on social media in 2024. The report stated 40% of the abuse got here from “indignant gamblers.”