‘Your Mothers Would Be Disgusted’: Svitolina Blasts Gamblers After Vile Abuse
After a recent loss on the court, Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina faced a different kind of defeat online. She was flooded with hateful messages from angry gamblers, a problem she says has become a disturbing and dangerous trend in professional sports.
The Aftermath of a Loss
The torrent of abuse followed Svitolina’s quarterfinal loss to Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open in Canada. Shortly after the match, Svitolina took to Instagram to share screenshots of the messages she received.
The content was not just criticism of her performance. The messages included death wishes directed at Svitolina and racist slurs targeting her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is Black.
In a particularly cruel attack, one user referenced the ongoing war in her home country, writing that they hoped Russia “kills all you [expletive] Ukrainians.”
A Mother’s Response
In her response, Svitolina chose not to engage with the hate directly. Instead, she appealed to the abusers’ sense of decency, pointing out the human cost of their words. She identified herself first as a parent, then as an athlete.
“To all the bettors: I’m a mum before I’m an athlete,” she wrote. “The way you talk to women — to mothers — is SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they’d be disgusted.”
A Pervasive Problem in Tennis
Svitolina’s experience is not an isolated incident. It is part of a wider pattern of abuse that has plagued the sport.
Earlier this year, British player Katie Boulter revealed she received death threats during the French Open. She told the BBC that she believes many of the abusive messages are sent by people who have placed bets on tennis matches.
The scale of the problem was quantified in a 2024 report from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The first-of-its-kind report found that 458 tennis players were targeted with over 8,000 abusive online comments and posts.
Crucially, the report identified the source: 40% of the abuse came from “angry gamblers.”
In response to this growing issue, both the WTA and the ITF have called on betting companies to take more significant action to curb the wave of online abuse directed at players. .
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