The WTA has offered additional support to Jodie Burrage after she received death threats and online abuse following a first-round defeat at a tournament in India on Tuesday.
Burrage shared a raft of abusive messages sent to her Instagram account after a gruelling 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat against India’s Vaishnavi Adkar at the Chennai Open. The 27‑year‑old, who was playing her first WTA Tour match since last summer, accompanied the messages with the caption: “Nice welcome back to the tour. I remember why I left.”
It is three years since the WTA – in partnership with Wimbledon, World Tennis and the United States Tennis Association – launched the AI-led Threat Matrix service, which aims to identify and tackle online abuse against players and officials.
A WTA spokesperson said in a statement: “Protecting players and the wider tennis family from online threats and abuse is a key priority for the WTA. We have WTA staff on the ground in Chennai offering Jodie support, along with our wider player welfare and Threat Matrix team.
“As much of the abuse players receive comes through direct messages, the WTA has offered Jodie additional support, including a private channel to report abusive direct messages, and moderation that hides abusive comments on public channels before she sees them.
Quick GuideZverev and Djokovic crash out of Paris Masters
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Alexander Zverev made a losing start to his reign as world No 1 on Wednesday as the two-time Grand Slam champion went down 7-6 (5), 6-2 to an inspired Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters.
Playing his opening match in the round of 32, Zverev went ahead 5-2 in a first-set tie-break but Musetti rallied to string together a run of five consecutive points and take a one-set lead.
The Italian failed to convert a break opportunity in the first game of the second set but made no mistake two games later as he capitalised on an error-strewn display from Zverev.
Musetti continued to deploy a sliced backhand to devastating effect as unforced errors mounted on the 2024 Paris Masters champion’s side of the net, culminating in a second break which allowed the Italian to serve out the match.
Novak Djokovic also crashed out of the tournament on Wednesday as the 24-time Grand Slam champion lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata.
The shock defeat to the world No 83 ended the 39-year-old Serb’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals later this month.
After the loss, Djokovic told reporters his plan for the next few weeks was “just rest”. “I’m looking forward to it,” he added. Agencies
“Threat Matrix is also reporting the abuse Jodie received to the platforms, and investigations are under way to identify those responsible. Where the abuse is linked to betting, they will be added to the Bad Actor programme so betting operators can act against their accounts.”
Burrage is one of a number of players to have spoken out previously about the level of abuse received and a failure of the governing bodies and social media companies to tackle it effectively. She spoke out on the abuse after her first-round exit from Wimbledon in 2025.
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Data from Threat Matrix showed female tennis players faced more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025, with angry gamblers responsible for 42% of verified abuse and 59% of serious abuse.
A report released in July said 66% of serious abusive posts and comments identified by the programme were removed, while 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals were escalated to law enforcement.
