Female tennis players were subjected to over 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media last year, a new report has revealed, highlighting the persistent challenge of online harassment in the sport.
The data, compiled by the Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service, shows a similar volume of abuse in 2025 compared to the previous year, with 3,726 incidents categorised as serious.
While 66 per cent of serious abuse was removed and 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals were escalated to law enforcement agencies, the number of identified abusive accounts rose from 39 to 68. Crucially, 89 per cent of those responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear last year.
The report also found that angry gamblers were responsible for 42 per cent of verified abuse in 2025 – a two per cent increase – and 59 per cent of serious abuse, indicating a significant and ongoing problem.
Many players have spoken out about the harmful effects of online abuse. A statement from the WTA Player Board declared: “The abuse directed at players online is unacceptable. While it comes from a relatively small number of accounts, its impact can be significant.
“It’s reassuring to know the WTA and World Tennis are taking this seriously, supporting players and making it clear that this kind of behaviour isn’t acceptable.”
The board added that progress “demonstrates the value of working collaboratively across the sport and with our partners to identify abusive behaviour, support players and take meaningful action against those responsible.”
The AI-led Threat Matrix service, supported by human analysts, monitors major social media platforms including X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook. The WTA and World Tennis are now urging betting companies to adopt their own investigative tools to identify perpetrators.
In a joint statement, the governing bodies emphasised: “Insight from this report is crucial to helping us broaden our knowledge of the issue and take decisive action to protect victims of vile online abuse by punishing those responsible.
“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.”
