Katie Boulter: British No 2 reveals death threats and online abuses to highlight the disturbing side of tennis bets | Tennis news

British No. 2 Katie Boulter spoke of the level of abuse intended for certain tennis players and revealed that she and her family had received death threats.

Boulter shared his experiences with BBC Sport To highlight the problem of players who receive toxic messages online.

The 28-year-old examples included a message telling him to buy “candles and a coffin for your whole family” with a reference to the “tomb of her grandmother if she is not dead of tomorrow”.

Another message said that she should “go to hell” because she had cost money on the poster, and another said “I hope you get cancer”.

“I just wonder who is the person who has sent this. I don’t think it is something I would ever say to my worst enemy. It’s just a horrible and horrible thing to say to anyone. It is horrible,” said Boulter.

“Regarding death threats, it is simply not something that you want to read completely after an emotional loss.

“Most of the time, you get it after winning too.”

Abuse of players who have lost money

Boulter thinks that a large part of the abuses come from players who have lost money and although it has learned to better manage this over the years, incidents can raise real concerns for its safety.

“I think it just shows how vulnerable we are. You really don’t know if that person is there. You really don’t know if they are nearby or if they know where you live or something like that,” she added.

“At the very beginning of my career, this is probably something that I took very personally (…) get comments on your appearance.”

“It becomes more obvious every time you go on your phone.”

The message that Boulter received as regards his family came during his first round victory to the French Open against Carole Monnet on May 29. After losing the first set shot, Boulter won the 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-1 match.

Boulter said that she was concerned about the fact that the frequency and severity of abuses increase and care about the potential impact on young players.

“I think it increases in number, and it also increases in the level of things that people say. I don’t think there is something on the cards now,” said Boulter.

Boulter said that she was preparing to make the level of abuse increase when she plays Wimbledon, her big home at home that starts on June 30.

The British No. 2 also said that she received online abuses if her partner, Australian World No 12 Alex de Minaur, lost a match.

What is he doing?

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) published their first report on the online mistreatment of players on Tuesday after the launch of the threat matrix service last January.

The system operates on all the main social media platforms and uses AI analysts and human analysts to identify and fight harassment, abuses and threats against players.

The report reveals that 1.6 million messages and comments were analyzed, with around 8,000 people led by 458 players identified as abusive, violent or threatening. Five players received 26% of total abuses, while 40% of the messages were identified as angry players.

Fifteen accounts were identified with the police due to the serious and prolific nature of messages, while the details were shared with security teams during tennis events to prevent individuals from accessing places.

A spokesperson for WTA and ITF said: “The protection of players and the tennis family in the broad sense against threats and online vile abuses is a key priority for us. Today’s report covering the first year of the threatening matrix service shows the extent of the problem and, above all, the actions taken to protect our athletes.

“Given the clear evidence highlighted by the matrix of threats on the link between angry players and prolific abuse and threat, we call a constructive dialogue with the game industry to help solve this problem.

“Everyone – Paris operators, social media platforms, guiding bodies, players and the requirements of the law – is responsible for making space online safer and more positive. We hope that the game industry will constructively react to our call to more action on their part.”

The threat matrix service is also improved to allow abusive messages to be hidden or deleted in real time.

Boulter was congratulated for highlighting the question of the United Against Online abuse campaign, a coalition directed by research dedicated to the fight against online abuses in sport founded by the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem and supported by the FIA ​​Foundation.

A spokesperson said: “Katie is incredibly courageous for talking about online abuses and online threats to which she was confronted.
Threat to safety, well-being and mental health of athletes.

“The research carried out by the FIA ​​United Against campaign abuses online shows that, unless we solve this problem thanks to coordinated and based on evidence, competitors will be driven out of their sport.

“This is a global challenge that requires a united response to protect athletes at all levels of competition.”

De Minaur: nothing changes

Minaur’s bolts’ fiancé said it was “great for her to intensify and refer to this”, but admits that it is something that happens to each athlete.

“It is good to shine a light of everything that is going on not only when you lose, that you do not feel in the best state emotionally, but you also have to face everything that is happening behind the scenes with angry players,” the Australian said after his 6-4 6-2 defeat against Czech Jiri Lehecka at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.

“I hope there is something that can be done on this subject. This is something that has happened for some time now. This is something against which many people have spoken, but that does not change.

“I have not yet gone to my social networks, but I am sure that I will have many people who are not too satisfied with my result today. He is just part. I would like him to be treated or repaired in one way or another, but I am not too sure of the answer.”

Draper: easy to spread hatred online

British No. 1 Jack Draper fears that future generations grow with social media and believe that it has become easy to spread hatred online.

“When you are younger and you lose a match or something, and enter the professional tour and you get all these abuses saying that they will come in your home and will do that. It is not good,” said Draper.

“You need something that is done not only in tennis but in professional sport. It is too easy to spread hatred. I suppose it is Twitter, Instagram, this is the world in which we live. I am not at all a fan of social media.”