The biggest problem in women's tennis no one is talking about: Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek & others' unending battle against social media abuse

Social media abuse from gamblers and bettors has been a growing issue in sports, with women's tennis being a notable example. Recently, many WTA stars, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Eva Lys, and others, have voiced how these abuses affect them mentally and psychologically.

Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service published the first season-wide report earlier this year, where 1.6 million posts and comments were analyzed across 40 languages through December. As per WTA Tennis, they verified that around 8,000 posts and comments from 4,200 accounts were 'abusive, violent and threatening,' with angry gamblers making up over 40% of the abusers.

The WTA and ITF have since then collectively made efforts to assess threatening actions, reporting about 15 cases to national law enforcement bodies and banning a few identified individuals from attending matches. However, despite their efforts, the abuse persists, with several events drawing concerns about the safety and security of women athletes in recent times.

Coco Gauff revealed in June that those abusive texts were not only directed at her, but her family and friends as well. Ahead of her Berlin Open campaign, the American spoke about how disturbing those threats were during a press conference.

"It's the worst you can get... Death threats, to your family, to yourself. I've had people DM [direct message] my boyfriend and friends about it. Racist comments, like all you can imagine. Nudity, things like that. It's a gross kind of thing that we have going on in tennis," said Gauff.

Recently, however, Iga Swiatek's message after receiving abusive texts after her China Open loss made many other WTA stars open up about their stories as well. The Pole shared screenshots of messages and comments she received from trolls and urged them to keep in mind the mental stress that such messages bring.

After losing to Emma Navarro in Beijing, Swiatek wrote on Instagram:

"Nowadays, this is a sad part of our reality in sports. Bots, betting, but also 'fans.' It is worth considering, especially since World Mental Health Day is just a few days away."

A few days later, players like Linda Noskova and Eva Lys also came forward and shared how they were subjected to hateful messages online. Lys shared that she suffered a minor injury in her left ankle during the China Open, but also gave a glimpse into the 'reality' of their lives on her Instagram story.

The German posted a screenshot of how an abuser slut-shamed her by calling her a 'wh*re' and a 'f**king match seller', and said:

“And let's not forget the reality whenever we lose a match.”

Hence, reinforcement of strict gambling laws and the regulation of platforms by the tennis governing bodies is the key. ITF and WTA revealed that the Threat Matrix service and its advanced AI will help track these abusers and will be available for tennis players in all major tournaments, including ATP, but it is still a work in progress.

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Emma Raducanu's stalker incident in Dubai Tennis Championships

The safety of players, however, transcends the online space to even live matches. Emma Raducanu was targeted by a stalker earlier this year, in February, during the Dubai Tennis Championships. That traumatic event unfolded when she spotted the stalker in the first game, which was followed by her hiding behind the umpire's chair with tears in her eyes in the second game of the match.

Raducanu described the BBC after the incident took place and said:

"I saw him in the first game of the match and I was like, 'I don't know how I'm going to finish'. I literally couldn't see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe. I was like, 'I need to just take a breather.'"

The stalker was later removed and given a restraining order from the player, but conversations around the safety of players, especially women, remain. He even tried to purchase tickets to Raducanu's match in Wimbledon, but was barred from doing so by the authorities.

While the reporting and abuse control mechanisms are put in place, the introduction of Mental Health support services could be provided to the women tennis players to help them cope with such traumatic abuses. However, the growing sports betting market threatens the possibility of a complete resolution of the matter, unless a collaborative effort is made by the gambling industries and the tennis governing bodies.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam