Katie Boulter says the amount of social media abuse players receive exposes how vulnerable they are after detailing her experiences.
During an interview with BBC Sport, Boulter showed some of the messages she has had to deal with during her career, including death threats, which the Brit say is becoming a norm on the Tour. Among the abusive messages she has received, one said ‘Hope you get cancer’ and another threatened to damage her “grandmother’s grave if she’s not dead by tomorrow.”Another read “Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me.”
Boulter said she received online abuse towards her family whilst playing at the French Open. In the first round, she lost the opening set against Carole Monnet before winning 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-1. She was beaten in the second round by seventh seed Madison Keys.
Elaborating further about her experiences, Boulter admits it is difficult to distinguish between what is and isn’t a serious threat made against her. On one occasion at the Nottingham Open, she received a message stating that someone would ‘hurt’ her if she left the venue. It was then discovered that the person who sent the threat was at the same tournament as her and they were subsequently removed.
“I think it just kind of shows how vulnerable we are,” she said. “You really don’t know if this person is on site. You really don’t know if they’re nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that.”
Coinciding with Boulter’s interview, the WTA and ITF published a report on Wednesday detailing the extent of the problem. Undertaken by Signify’s Threat Matrix, it found that 8,000 posts or comments were sent from 4,200 accounts that were deemed abusive, violent, or threatening. 15 of these accounts were investigated and sent to law enforcement agencies. 458 players were targeted but 26% of the total abuse was directed at just five players. Furthermore, during 2024 there were 56 cases of ‘concerning communication’ received by 28 players with 77% linked to angry gamblers.
As for Boulter, she admits she is likely to receive more abuse heading into Wimbledon, including some that will be directed towards her fiance Alex de Minaur.
“Wimbledon for me would probably be pretty astronomical,” she commented.
“As a couple, we actually both get a little bit from each other as well, so he tends to get some of my matches if I’ve lost, and if he’s lost then sometimes I get his and likewise sometimes when he’s won.
“You can get hundreds of messages after games, after points, after sets and after matches.”
Boulter is currently playing at the Nottingham Open where she is seeded eighth in the draw.
WTA/ITF report on abuse directed at players on social media
• Angry gamblers sent 40% of all detected abuse.
• 10 prolific accounts [majority being angry gambler-related] were responsible for 12% of all abuse. Nine have either been suspended, posts permanently deleted by the platform, or the user has removed their post(s)
• Details of 39 account holders [majority angry gambler related] who sent prolific abuse have been shared with the tennis authorities and betting industry for further action
• The most prolific abusive account sent 263 abusive messages.
Action taken
• 15 cases of egregious and highly threatening abuse have been investigated and evidence provided to law enforcement for assessment and action.
• Of the 15 cases, three have been submitted to the FBI and 12 to other national law enforcement bodies
• Relevant account details have been shared with event security teams (both Tours and Grand Slams) to ban these individuals from access to venues and rescind tickets. This has also included threats to men’s and women’s players detected by Threat Matrix during Grand Slam events.
