Agency:
British Number Two Katie Boulter has received death threats to herself and members of her family after matches as players are increasingly subjected to online abuse through direct messages.
Gamblers are responsible for 40 percent of detected abuse, according to a survey undertaken by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) published on Tuesday.
Boulter, 28, shared her experiences in an interview with the BBC. The world number 39 received messages that read: “Hope you get cancer”, “Candles and a coffin for your entire family”, and “Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me”.
“I just wonder who the person is that has sent that,” Boulter said looking at the “hope you get cancer” message.
“I don’t think it’s something that I would ever say to my worst enemy. It’s just an awful, awful thing to say to anyone. It’s horrible.”
The WTA and ITF study, which monitored 1.6 million posts and comments last year using Threat Matrix AI, are calling for the gambling industry to tackle those people responsible for the abuse more effectively.
“I think it just kind of shows how vulnerable we are,” Boulter said.
