Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina spoke of the deluge of derogatory comments whom she received online for frustrated bettors after a defeat in Canada, including messages which wanted her death and who celebrated the death of her compatriots in Ukraine by Russia.
After his defeat in the quarterfinals in two rounds against Naomi Osaka on Tuesday evening, Svitolina shared screenshots of messages on her Instagram.
The abuses were directed to her, while other racial insults also aimed at her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils.
One of the abusers wanted Russia to “kill each of you the Ukrainians” in the war that implies the country of Svitolina.
“To all bettors: I am a mother before being an athlete. The way you talk to women – to mothers – it’s shameful. If your mothers saw your messages, they would be disgusted, “wrote Svitolina.
Earlier this year, the British Katie Boulter said she received death threats during Roland Garros who aimed at her family, while WTA and ITF asked the sports betting companies to do more to reduce insults on social networks.
Boulter said on BBC in an interview that online intimidation has become a standard and that it thinks that many of the messages are sent by people who place bets on tennis matches.
His comments coincided with the WTA and the ITF which published a first report on online intimidation, showing that 458 tennis players were targeted by more than 8,000 abusive comments in 2024. The report said that 40% of intimidation came from “frustrated bettors”.
