Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina spoke of the deluge of hate abuses that she received online from frustrated players after losing a match in Canada, including messages wishing her death and celebrating Russia who kills her compatriots.
After his direct defeat against Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals of the Canada Open, Svitolina published screenshots of messages on Instagram.
An example of one of the messages received that Elina Svitolina received on her account. (Supplied: Instagram))
The abuse was directed to her, while other racial insults have also targeted her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is black. An attacker hoped that Russia “will kill everything you (explanive) Ukrainian” in the war rages in the country of Svitolina.
“To all bettors: I am a mom before being athlete,” wrote Svitolina in her Instagram history.
“The way you talk to women – to mothers – is shameful. If your mothers saw your messages, they would be disgusted.”
Earlier this year, British player Katie Boulter said that she had received death threats during the French Open who targets her as well as her family, while WTA and ITF called on Paris companies to do more to hear the flow of online mistreatment with which players are confronted on social networks.
Boulter told the BBC in an interview that online abuses had become the norm and that it thinks that many messages are sent by people who place bets on tennis matches.
His comments coincided with the WTA and ITF publishing a first report on the online abuse season, showing that 458 tennis players were targeted by more than 8,000 abusive comments and social networks in 2024.
The report indicates that 40% of abuses came from “angry players”.
Last month, Afl Jase Burgoyne and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera footballers revealed the racist messages they received on Instagramarousing the indignation of their clubs and the league when they sought to identify the culprits.
AP / ABC
