British tennis player Jodie Burrage has said that she received death threats and abuse on social media after she lost her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour singles match in 16 months.
The 27-year-old, ranked 474th in the world, went out in the first round of the Chennai Open. India’s Vaishnavi Adkar came from a set down to beat her 3-6 6-3 7-5.
Burrage later posted an Instagram story with a video scroll of the direct messages she received after the match, including abuse. “Nice welcome back to tour. I remember why I left,” the Londoner wrote.
Germany’s Eva Lys backed Burrage. She tagged the WTA on Instagram, asking: “When will something be done?”
Burrage, who is British number 15, last played a main-draw WTA Tour match in July 2025. She lost to Catherine McNally in the first round at Wimbledon.
Female tennis players received more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media last year, according to a report published earlier this year. The report used data from the Signify Group’s threat matrix service, which uses artificial intelligence to detect abuse. It found a similar number of abusive posts in 2025 as in 2024.
A Signify Group report two years ago found that angry gamblers wrote 48 percent of the posts it judged abusive. Gamblers were responsible for 42 percent of verified abuse in 2025 and 59 percent of serious abuse cases.
Britain’s Katie Boulter told BBC Sport in 2025 that she had received death threats. Other players have called on social media platforms to introduce identity verification to tackle the problem.
The WTA’s player board has previously called the abuse “unacceptable” and said its impact can be “significant”.
