Social media abuse in tennis: Female players faced 12,000 abusive posts in 2025

BBC Published Jul 16, 2026 Reviewed Jul 16, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors

Female tennis players received 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025, according to a report using data from the Signify Group's threat matrix service.

more than 12000 posts · abusive posts and messages to female tennis players

In the men's tennis circuit, an AI-driven system blocked 162,000 abusive posts in a year.

162000 posts · abusive posts blocked by AI system

In 2025, 66% of serious abuse reported to the Signify Group's threat matrix service was removed, and 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals were escalated to law enforcement.

66 % · serious abuse removed35 accounts · accounts escalated to law enforcement12 individuals · individuals linked to escalated accounts

In 2025, angry gamblers were responsible for 42% of verified abusive posts and 59% of serious abuse reported to the Signify Group's threat matrix service.

42 % · verified abusive posts59 % · serious abuse

Female tennis players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media last year, according to a new report.

Data from the Signify Group's threat matrix service, which uses artificial intelligence-led detection, showed a similar number of abusive posts in 2025 to 2024.

The report highlighted some positive changes, however, with 66% of serious abuse being removed. 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals were also escalated to law enforcement.

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

In 2024, a report from the same group found that angry gamblers were behind 48% of posts which were deemed to be abusive.

They were responsible for 42% of verified abuse in 2025 and 59% of cases of serious abuse.

The WTA's player board said in a statement: "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 progress highlighted in this report 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 threat matrix uses AI, supported by human analysts, to assess content across X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.

The WTA and World Tennis said that "collective action" was required to be able to make "significant progress" to tackle abuse.

In 2025, Britain's Katie Boulter told BBC Sport that she had received death threats.

Fellow players called for identity verification to be introduced by social media platforms to try to address the issue.

The WTA and World Tennis added: "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."

In the men's game, a new system driven by artificial intelligence, which blocked 162,000 posts in a year, is being used to combat severe abuse.

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