Athletes dealing with threats from external sources is becoming an alarming trend. Just recently, the 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu experienced a terrifying moment at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. During her second-round match against Karolina Muchova, a man displaying “fixated behavior” targeted her, leaving the British tennis star visibly distressed. She even hid behind the umpire’s chair in fear. Unfortunately, Raducanu is not the only player having such horrid experiences. The Czech youngster Linda Noskova recently revealed a threat she received on Instagram after a tough loss at the Indian Wells.

Noskova, the No. 31 seed, lost 6-1, 6-4 in the second round to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun. This was a complete reversal of their previous encounter in the Monterrey Open final, where Noskova had clinched her maiden WTA title with a 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over Sun. Well, wins and losses are part and parcel of the sport, but what came next was shocking.

The 20-year-old shared a screenshot of a direct message she received on Instagram that read, “I KILL YOU AND YOU FAMILY B****.”

This isn’t the first time Noskova has exposed the ugly side of social media. After losing her semifinal match at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Open to American Ashlyn Krueger (6-7(2), 4-6), she posted a series of hate messages she had received. The messages weren’t just about her performance—they attacked her appearance and even included death threats.

Instead of letting it bring her down, though, Noskova responded with a bit of sarcasm. “Should I make this a tradition?” she posted on her Instagram story, hinting at how frequent these attacks had become.

Interestingly, a significant number of online threats and abuse towards tennis players come from frustrated gamblers. According to an artificial-intelligence-led detection system launched by the ITF, WTA, USTA, and All England Lawn Tennis Club, angry bettors were responsible for 48% of the 12,000 abusive social media posts directed at players in 2024.

From January to October 2024, the Threat Matrix monitored 2.47 million posts, identifying 12,000 that violated social media guidelines. As a result, 15 abusive accounts were reported to law enforcement, while 26 prolific offenders had their accounts suspended. The system, which operates in 39 languages, intends to protect thousands of players across the ITF and WTA tours.

Despite all these efforts, however, the frequency of online abuse isn’t reducing, and Noskova isn’t the only player speaking out.

WTA players reveal dark reality of online hate

Following the disturbing incident involving Emma Raducanu in Dubai, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva shared a horrifying experience from her early years in tennis. “Of course, after every loss, I think every player receives a bunch of hateful messages,” she told The National News. “I remember once when I was young, when I was 14 years old, I was playing one of my first ITF tournaments, and I received a message after my loss that, ‘Look around, because I’m going to find you, and I’m going to cut your arms.’ That was still the one that I remember until today.”

In 2024, world number 30 Caroline Garcia opened up about the constant hate she endures. After a surprise first-round exit at the US Open against Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, Garcia took to social media to share just a fraction of the abuse she had received. “Maybe you can think that it doesn’t hurt us,” she wrote. “But it does. We are humans. And sometimes, when we receive these messages, we are already emotionally destroyed after a tough loss. And they can be damaging. Many before me have raised the subject. And still, no progress has been made.”

Garcia wasn’t exaggerating. US players Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula echoed her statements, with Pegula commenting, “Yep. The constant death threats and family threats are normal now. Win or lose.”

The rise of online abuse in sports, especially directed at female athletes, is unsettling. While some players try to brush it off with sarcasm, the reality remains grim. What can be done to stop this barrage of online hate?