Surge of Online Abuse Targets Female Tennis Players in 2025

A Signify Group Threat Matrix analysis identified more than 12,000 abusive social-media posts directed at women on the WTA and World Tennis tours during the 2025 season. Of those, 3,726 were classified as serious, encompassing violent, sexual, racist and targeted threats. The volume of abusive content remained comparable to 2024 despite heightened detection efforts by platforms and tennis bodies.

The Hindu

The report found that gambling-related accounts accounted for 42 % of all verified abusive posts and an even larger share—59 %—of the serious cases. Angry gamblers were also responsible for 48 % of posts deemed abusive in the prior year, underscoring a persistent pattern of betting-related hostility toward players.

WTA players received over 12,000 abusive social media posts in 2025 as gamblers fuel majority of serious cases

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) player board labeled the abuse “unacceptable” and warned that its impact can be “significant.” In a joint statement, the WTA and World Tennis highlighted that 89 % of accounts linked to serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025, attributing the decline to coordinated enforcement. Thirty-five accounts tied to 12 individuals—including one verified network—were escalated to law-enforcement agencies. Both organisations called for collective action from social-media firms, law-enforcement, governing bodies and the gambling industry to achieve further progress.

The Hindu

Players have publicly described the personal toll of the harassment. Amanda Anisimova told BBC Sport she was “scared to look at my phone” after a 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon loss, citing an onslaught of abusive messages. Katie Boulter disclosed that she and her family received death threats following matches, illustrating how online abuse can extend to players’ relatives.

The Hindu

• “A statement from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) player board said the abuse was "unacceptable" and its impact can be "significant".” — WTA player board

BBC News

• “While today’s findings illustrate the effectiveness of that action to date, further significant progress requires collective action from social media companies, law enforcement, governing bodies and the gambling industry and we will ?continue to proactively advocate for that,” — WTA and World Tennis joint statement

The Hindu

• “They were responsible for 42% of verified abuse in 2025 and 59% of cases of serious abuse.” — Signify Group report

BBC News