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British tennis player Jodie Burrage received death threats and online abuse following her first-round defeat at a tournament in India on Tuesday, prompting the WTA to offer additional support.
Online Abuse After Chennai Open Defeat
Burrage posted multiple abusive messages sent to her Instagram account after suffering a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss against India’s Vaishnavi Adkar at the Chennai Open. The 27-year-old athlete, competing in her first WTA Tour match since last summer, captioned the screenshots with the statement: “Nice welcome back to the tour. I remember why I left.”
WTA and Threat Matrix Response
A WTA spokesperson stated that safeguarding players and the tennis community from online abuse is a major priority. The organisation deployed staff on-site in Chennai to assist Burrage, alongside support from player welfare and Threat Matrix teams.
Because much of the harassment occurs through direct messages, the WTA provided Burrage with a private reporting channel and comment moderation to hide offensive public remarks before she views them. The Threat Matrix service is reporting the messages to social media platforms and investigating to identify the culprits. Accounts connected to betting-related abuse will face action through the Bad Actor programme.
Previous Outspokenness and Wider Statistics
Burrage previously raised concerns about pervasive online harassment and the failure of governing bodies and tech companies to address it, speaking out after her opening match exit at Wimbledon in 2025.
Figures from Threat Matrix indicate that female tennis players encountered over 12,000 abusive social media posts and messages in 2025, with frustrated gamblers accounting for 42% of verified abuse and 59% of severe abuse.
A report published in July showed that 66% of severe abusive content identified by the system was deleted, while 35 accounts associated with 12 individuals were referred to law enforcement agencies.
