Britain's Jodie Burrage, 27, has been receiving support from WTA staff at the Chennai Open in India after being sent death threats on social media. Burrage was bombarded with abusive messages following her first WTA Tour singles main-draw match in 16 months, a 3-6 6-3 7-5 loss to India's Vaishnavi Adkar. On Wednesday, she won her doubles match alongside Robin Montgomery of the United States.
The WTA stated that protecting players from online threats is a key priority, with staff on the ground in Chennai offering support alongside the player welfare and Threat Matrix team. Burrage shared the abusive direct messages on Instagram, tagging the WTA and asking when action will be taken. Other players, including Germany's Eva Lys, showed solidarity.
The WTA's Threat Matrix system, established in 2023, uses AI-led detection to identify abusers, enabling investigations and potential legal action. In 2024, angry gamblers were responsible for 48% of abusive posts, and the WTA is working with gambling companies to flag abuse in real time. Mhairi Maclennan of Kyniska Advocacy believes not enough is being done to protect athletes, noting that abuse is common for those with public profiles due to the link between sports and betting.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing