Britain's Jodie Burrage received death threats and social media abuse following her first WTA Tour singles match in 16 months. The 27-year-old, ranked 474th in the world, suffered a first-round exit at the Chennai Open after India's Vaishnavi Adkar fought back from a set down to win 3-6 6-3 7-5. Burrage shared a video scroll of direct messages on Instagram, including the note, "Nice welcome back to tour.
I remember why I left." Germany's Eva Lys showed solidarity by tagging the WTA and asking, "When will something be done?" Burrage's last WTA match prior to this was in July 2025 at Wimbledon, where she lost to Catherine Mc Nally. A report by the Signify Group found that over 12,000 abusive posts and messages were sent to female tennis players last year. Angry gamblers were identified as the source of 48% of deemed abusive posts two years ago, and 42% in 2025.
In 2025, Katie Boulter also told BBC Sport she had received death threats. Fellow players have called for identity verification on social media platforms. The WTA's player board has condemned the abuse as "unacceptable," noting its significant impact.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing