Tennis star Elina Svitolina blames ‘shameful' bettors for abuse, death threats after loss to Naomi Osaka
Following her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open on Tuesday night, Svitolina posted screenshots of the messages on Instagram.
The abuse was directed at her, while other racial slurs also targeted her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is black.
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4 Svitolina lost to Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open.
AP
4 The abuse was directed at Svitolina, along with other racial slurs targeting her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is black.
AP
One abuser hoped that Russia 'kills all you (expletive) Ukrainians' in the war raging in Svitolina's country.
'To all the bettors: I'm a mum before I'm an athlete,' Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. 'The way you talk to women — to mothers — is SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they'd be disgusted.'
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Earlier this year, British player Katie Boulter said she received death threats during the French Open targeting her and her family, while the WTA and ITF called on betting companies to do more to stem the flood of online abuse players face on social media.
Boulter told the BBC in an interview that online abuse has become the norm and that she thinks many of the messages are sent by people who are placing bets on tennis matches.
4 Svitolina hits a return to Naomi Osaka during quarterfinal tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
AP
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4 'To all the bettors: I'm a mum before I'm an athlete,' Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. 'The way you talk to women — to mothers — is SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they'd be disgusted.'
AP
Her comments coincided with the WTA and ITF publishing a first season-wide report into online abuse, showing that 458 tennis players were targeted by more than 8,000 abusive comments and posts on social media in 2024.
The report said 40% of the abuse came from 'angry gamblers.'
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