Female tennis players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive social media posts in 2025, according to a recent report. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and World Tennis acknowledged the significant impact of this abuse, even when originating from a small number of accounts.
In response, the WTA and World Tennis emphasized the importance of collaborative action across the sport, working with partners to identify abusive behavior, support players, and hold responsible parties accountable. The organizations stated that "collective action" is essential for making "significant progress" in tackling online abuse.
Combating Online Abuse
A new system utilizing artificial intelligence, supported by human analysts, is employed to assess content across major social media platforms including X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook. This threat matrix helps identify and flag abusive posts. In the men's game, a similar AI-driven system has been effective, blocking 162,000 posts in a single year to combat severe abuse.
The report's insights are considered crucial for broadening the understanding of the issue and enabling decisive action to protect victims. The WTA and World Tennis noted that while current actions have shown effectiveness, further progress requires the participation of social media companies, law enforcement, governing bodies, and the gambling industry. They indicated a commitment to continued advocacy for these collaborative measures.
In 2025, British player Katie Boulter publicly shared that she had received death threats. This incident, among others, has led fellow players to call for identity verification measures to be implemented by social media platforms as a means to address the problem.