Tennis Is Failing to Address Gambling-Fueled Abuse Seriously
The sport’s governing bodies are calling for gaming operators to take more action against individual gamblers, but that’s not enough.
Whose court is the ball in?
Photographer: Kate Green/Getty Images
Wimbledon’s stars will have to endure hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of threatening social media posts and direct messages when the tennis championship unfolds over the next two weeks. Racism, misogyny and straight up mean-spiritedness will comprise much of the abuse. If past tournaments are any guide, gamblers will volley many of them. According to a new report from the Women’s Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation, 40% of the angry messages players received during the 2024 season came from disgruntled bettors.
The missives are vile. For example, Katie Boulter, the second ranked British player, recently told the BBC that she’s received messages instructing her to purchase “candles and a coffin” for her family, and hoping that she gets cancer. On a human level, such harassment is horrifying. On a sporting level, it threatens the integrity of competition.