Elina Svitolina believes disgruntled gamblers are behind a series of abusive messages sent to her on social media after her loss to Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open.
The world No.13 was knocked out in the quarter-finals by four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka. It was the first time Svitolina had reached the last eight of the tournament since 2019, and she is a former champion from 2017.
After her latest match, Svitolina was targeted with a series of messages which included death threats being made against her. Such as ‘I hope you ******** die tonight’ and ‘corrupt b****.’ Other messages were about her country’s ongoing war with Russia.
“To all the bettors: I’m a mom before I’m an athlete,” Svitolina wrote in an Instagram story that featured screenshots of the messages.
“The way you talk to women – to mothers – is SHAMEFUL. If your moms saw your messages, they’d be disgusted.”
It is not the first time such an incident has happened in the sport, with other players also experiencing similar threats. Britain’s Katie Boulter has previously said the situation has become normal after opening up about her experiences.
Earlier this year, the WTA and ITF published a report on the levels of abuse players receive on social media. 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, who were not named. It is estimated that 40% of the abusive messages were sent by angry gamblers.
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.
