Report: Nearly 8,000 Abusive Messages Sent to Tennis Players by Bettors in 2024

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have released new data revealing the scale of online abuse targeting professional players — and are calling on the betting industry to step up enforcement against those responsible.

The figures come from Threat Matrix, an AI-powered monitoring platform developed by Signify Group and launched in January 2024. The service is designed to protect players and their families from online harassment and operates across major social media platforms. Around 8,300 athletes competing in WTA Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour events (including WTA and ITF players participating in the four Grand Slam tournaments) are covered by the system.

According to the report, Threat Matrix scanned approximately 1.6 million social media messages and comments in 2024. Of those, nearly 8,000 posts — originating from 4,200 accounts — were flagged as abusive or threatening.

Action was taken in cases deemed most serious, with information from 15 user accounts handed over to law enforcement.

Over the course of the year, 458 players were directly targeted with threats or insults.

Notably, 26% of all identified abuse was directed at just five players.

The report also shows that nearly 40% of all abusive messages came from angry bettors who had lost money wagering on matches.

Details of 39 such individuals — repeat offenders who sent multiple abusive messages — were shared with tennis authorities and betting operators. One of them was responsible for sending 263 abusive messages in a 12-month span.

Detection efforts were not limited to Threat Matrix. Players themselves submitted complaints as well. In total, 56 reports were filed by 28 players during the year, with 77% of those involving bettors seeking revenge for losing bets.

As previously reported, the Italian Open organizers have already started removing aggressive bettors from the tournament grounds.