Social media has gotten out of hand, especially when it comes to online abuse. The person sitting behind that keyboard or holding that phone typing, does not realize the impact their hurtful words can have on someone else’s mental and emotional well-being.
Players spend hours training, preparing, and sacrificing to perform at their best. When they finally step onto the court, they give it everything they have. Sometimes they walk away with a win, which is a good feeling, or face defeat, which can be heartbreaking.
Taking a defeat is not easy , you begin questioning yourself, like, where did I go wrong? What could I have done differently? You replay your mistakes in your head, overthink every moment. The last thing any player needs during such a vulnerable moment is to face a barrage of online abuse from strangers.
British tennis player Jodie Burrage is a victim, and she has now spoken out in an interview on Sky Sports about the online abuse and death threats she has been receiving after her first-round 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat against Vaishnavi Adkar at the Chennai Open on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
“I received quite a few messages on social media. Abusive messages and things that you shouldn’t be getting after a match or that anyone should ever have to deal with in that matter anyway,” said the 27-year-old
“I got them after the match, and it didn’t make it easier, that’s for sure.
“With what happened in the match as well, me not feeling my best, my blood pressure actually tanked at the end of that third set.
“So obviously people were concerned back home. I was on my phone in the physio room with the doctors and replying to people, telling them I was OK, and then I was seeing these messages come up on my phone.
“It’s probably not the best thing to be on your phone, but in that circumstance, I kind of had to be.
“I didn’t actually look at most of the messages. I screenshot some to send to someone to show them and then decided to post them [in a video] for awareness of what it’s like after a tough loss.”
The tennis world is not sitting back when it comes to tackling online abuse. In 2023, the WTA, in partnership with Wimbledon, the USTA and the Signify Group, launched an AI-powered monitoring service aimed at protecting players from online harassment.
The service monitors publicly available content across X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, covering an impressive 57 languages. Using AI technology, it identifies and investigates abusive messages, helping to filter and hide harmful comments before players are exposed to them. More serious threats are escalated to law enforcement, while the identities of offenders can also be shared with gaming companies to help prevent them from continuing their abuse on those platforms.
The WTA has released a statement confirming that it has reached out to the British player and will be investigating the matter.“Protecting players and the wider tennis family from online threats and abuse is a key priority for the WTA. We have WTA staff on the ground in Chennai offering Jodie support, along with our wider player welfare and Threat Matrix team.
“As much of the abuse players receive comes through direct messages, the WTA has offered Jodie additional support, including a private channel to report abusive direct messages, and moderation that hides abusive comments on public channels before she sees them.
“Threat Matrix is also reporting the abuse Jodie received to the platforms, and investigations are under way to identify those responsible. Where the abuse is linked to betting, they will be added to the Bad Actor programme so betting operators can act against their accounts”.
