Tennis Star Elena Rybakina Receives Disturbing Messages After Upset Loss
As if blowing a match at the National Bank Open wasn't bad enough, Elena Rybakina has received countless disturbing messages on social media.
During Wednesday night's semifinal, Rybakina was in command of the deciding set against 18-year-old Victoria Mboko. However, it all fell apart for the former Wimbledon champion when she was serving for the match. She eventually dropped a third set tiebreak to the Canadian teenager.
Immediately after Rybakina's match against Mboko went final, tennis fans went on Instagram to leave nasty comments on her most recent post.
"The way you melt down during matches, and the ridiculous unforced errors you make most be studied," one fan commented.
"Get your head fixed, this is not normal," a second fan said.
"Find a job and stop with tennis, thanks," an Instagram user wrote.
"You're a disgrace to the tennis world," another user said.
"Quit playing for real," another fan said. "Can't handle the pressure."
Unfortunately, this has been a recent trend in tennis. Katie Boulter dealt with similar messages after the French Open.
"It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone," Boulter told the BBC. "I think it just kind of shows how vulnerable we are, you really don't know if this person is on site, if they're nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that. As far as death threats, it's just not something you want to be reading straight after an emotional loss. A lot of the time you get it after you win as well."
Jessica Pegula also receivede death threats earlier this season.
"These betters are insane and delusional and I don't allow dms and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks but they always find a way to my timeline," Pegula said. "This stuff has never really bothered me much but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I'd love to know because it seems to be predominately tennis? It's so disturbing."
We truly hope fans stop resorting to this behavior, but we're not so sure that'll happen. With sports gambling on the rise, stuff like this will continue to happen.
Tennis Star Elena Rybakina Receives Disturbing Messages After Upset Loss first appeared on The Spun on Aug 7, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
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