MONTREAL — Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitorina talks about the huge flood of hateful abuse she received online from annoyed gamblers after losing a match in Canada.
Following the National Bank’s quarter-final defeat to Naomi Osaka on Tuesday night, Svitorina posted a screenshot of her message on Instagram.
The abuse was directed at her, but the racial slander also targeted French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is a black husband. One abuser wanted Russia to “kill all Ukrainians” in a raging war in the country of Svitrina.
“To all bettors: I’m my mother before I became an athlete,” Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. “The way you talk to women – with your mother – is shameful. If your mother sees your message, they’ll get sick.”
Earlier this year, British player Katie Boulter said he received death threats during the French opening that targeted her and her family, but the WTA and ITF bet on doing more to stop the flood of online abuse players facing on social media.
Boulter told the BBC in an interview that he believes online abuse has become the norm and that many messages are being sent by people betting on tennis matches.
Her comments coincided with the WTA and ITF publishing a full season-wide report on online abuse, indicating that 458 tennis players have been targeted for over 8,000 abusive comments and social media posts in 2024. The report said 40% of the abuse came from “angry gamblers.”
