Jodie Burrage given WTA support in Chennai after receiving online death threats
Jodie Burrage received death threats on social media after her 3-6 6-3 7-5 loss to India's Vaishnavi Adkar in Chennai on Tuesday, and WTA staff provided support to her at the Chennai Open the following day when she contested the doubles draw.
Burrage, 27, who has been ranked as high as 85th in the world and has represented Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup, was bombarded with abusive messages after the defeat, which was her first WTA Tour singles main-draw match in 16 months. She posted a story on her Instagram account showing the direct messages and tagged the WTA, asking when action would be taken to combat abuse; other players, including Germany's Eva Lys, publicly expressed solidarity.
The WTA told BBC Sport: "Protecting players and the wider tennis family from online threats and abuse is a key priority for the WTA." The governing body added: "We have WTA staff on the ground in Chennai offering Jodie support, along with our wider player welfare and Threat Matrix team." The organisation said it is taking a "proactive approach" to protecting female players from abuse.
The WTA described the Threat Matrix system as using artificial intelligence-led detection to identify people behind threatening accounts, enabling investigations and potentially leading to legal action. The organisation said the system can detect abuse and support follow-up steps against those responsible for targeting players online.
"Through Threat Matrix, a system we established in 2023, delivered by Signify Group alongside World Tennis, we identify, investigate and take action against those responsible," the WTA added. "This includes reporting abusive content for removal, escalating serious cases to law enforcement and supporting action to prevent real-world harm. "As much of the abuse players receive comes through direct messages, the WTA has offered Jodie additional support. "These include a private channel to report abusive direct messages, and moderation that hides abusive comments on public channels before she sees them."
Data cited in the report shows female players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media last year. A 2024 Signify report found angry gamblers were behind 48% of posts deemed abusive, and Signify data showed they were responsible for 42% of verified abuse in 2025 and 59% of cases of serious abuse. The WTA said it is working with several gambling companies in a programme that flags abuse from gamblers in real time, allowing the operator to take direct action against those targeting athletes; the company is then able to flag, restrict or suspend the account.
Mhairi Maclennan, chief executive of the Kyniska Advocacy, which supports female athletes, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme: "I'm afraid it is all too common for athletes who have public profiles to receive this type of abuse. Whether they have won or lost, a lot of the athletes we speak to report they have received abuse - whether death threats or rape threats - because of their public profile and because sports like tennis are tied to betting. Sports need a healthier relationship with betting agencies. Ultimately sports need money but we need to be looking at what betting is doing to individual athletes and looking after their welfare."
The WTA said its systems can lead to content removal, operator actions such as account flagging, restriction or suspension, escalation of serious incidents to law enforcement and investigations that could result in legal action.
