Elina Svitolina responds to ‘shameful’ online remarks after NBO defeat

Vegas Tennis Team
2 Min Read

MONTREAL — Esteemed Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has bravely addressed the wave of vitriol she encountered online after her recent match in Canada. Following her defeat, she was inundated with cruel messages, some wishing her death and others celebrating the ongoing violence against her fellow countrymen.

After her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open on Tuesday night, Svitolina shared screenshots of the hateful messages on her Instagram account.

The derogatory comments targeted her specifically, with additional racial slurs aimed at her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is Black. One particularly abhorrent message wished for Russia to “kill all you (expletive) Ukrainians” amid the ongoing conflict in her homeland.

In her Instagram story, Svitolina expressed, “To all the bettors: I’m a mother before I’m an athlete. The way you communicate with women — with mothers — is utterly SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they’d be appalled.”

Earlier this year, British tennis player Katie Boulter revealed she had received death threats during the French Open, directed at both her and her family. The WTA and ITF have urged betting companies to clamp down on the surge of online abuse players face across social media platforms.

Boulter mentioned in a BBC interview that the prevalence of online harassment has become distressingly normalized, suggesting many of these disturbing messages originate from individuals placing bets on tennis matches.

Her remarks came in conjunction with a report released by the WTA and ITF, marking the first comprehensive investigation into online abuse over the season. The findings revealed that 458 tennis players were targeted by over 8,000 abusive comments and posts on social media in 2024, with 40 percent of this harassment traced back to “angry gamblers.”

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