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Time of India
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
New tool finds vast online abuse of tennis players
Tennis players last year received abuse so threatening that 15 cases were escalated to law enforcement agencies, according to a joint report released Tuesday by the Women's Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation . The report, which covers the 2024 season, lays bare the scale of abuse directed at players on social media. It also offers a reminder that the detected abuse only scratches the surface. From January to December in 2024, an artificial intelligence threat analysis system analyzed 1.6 million posts and comments. It verified around 8,000 posts and comments sent from 4,200 accounts as abusive, violent or threatening. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How a $49 Japanese Palm Gadget Gave Her Grip in Weeks Yukon Rewards Undo The report identified 458 players as targeted with direct abuse or threats, with five players receiving 26% of the posts classified as abusive. Ninety-seven social media accounts were responsible for 23% of all detected abuse. According to the data analysis, angry gamblers sent 40% of all detected abuse last year. Of the 10 most prolific accounts, responsible for 12% of all abuse detected, nine have either been suspended or have deleted their posts or had them removed by the relevant platform . One account sent 263 abusive messages in 2024, but has not posted any abusive content in 2025 to date. Live Events Of the 15 incidents reported to law enforcement agencies, four took place at the Grand Slam events and one at the Olympics . The other 10 were from tour events. Three were submitted to the FBI , with 12 investigated by other national law enforcement bodies. They led to individuals being barred from venues and having tickets rescinded. Signify Group's Threat Matrix service, which went live in January 2024, is designed to help protect players by detecting and filtering out abusive messages through a combination of artificial intelligence and human analysts. All players competing in WTA Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour events (and WTA and ITF players competing in the four Grand Slam events) are automatically covered by the service. A Signify Group representative said in an email that: "targeted abuse is defined by a player's handle being referenced in the content of a message or posted on their profile on platforms where accounts are not referenced directly. "Our system proactively gathers every mention of handles or comment on profiles and then analyzes the rest of the content of the message for abusive, threatening or discriminatory content. If there is problematic content sat alongside that account in a comment or post, our system flags it for review then passes to our human analyst team, who carefully review every AI-flagged message. They are then able to confirm if the flag is accurate or not." But targeted abuse is just the start. During last month's French Open, Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3, said that abuse always finds a way to enter her timeline, even if not directed at her. "These bettors are insane and delusional," Pegula wrote in the wake of her fourth-round defeat to French qualifier Loïs Boisson. "I don't allow DMs, and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks." She added: "This stuff has never really bothered me much, but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I'd love to know because it seems to be predominantly tennis? It's so disturbing. "Every person on tour deals with it. It's so bad. Those are just really small snippets. I get told my family should get cancer and die from people on here on a regular basis. Absolutely crazy." Bettors and angry fans will name players in abusive comments after a loss, even if they do not message or tag them on social media when doing so. The normalization of this kind of abuse has become a major issue for the sport, and is the natural next step for people who have been blocked or cannot message the targets of their abuse directly. The International Tennis Federation and the WTA and ATP Tours share match data with providers linked to sports betting. Income from those deals goes toward the funding of the tours. Pegula, who sits on the WTA Players' Council, said on Tuesday: " Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure. I welcome the work that the WTA and ITF are doing with Threat Matrix to identify and take action against the abusers, whose behavior is so often linked to gambling. "But it's not enough on its own. It's time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source and act to protect everyone facing these threats." Caroline Garcia, the French former world No. 4 who will retire later this year, opened up about the damaging effects of social media abuse at the U.S. Open last August. She wrote on Instagram that unhealthy betting accounted for most of the abuse, and emphasized how damaging it was to players who were already emotionally destroyed after a defeat. "If someone decided to say these things to me in public, he could have legal issues," Garcia wrote. "So why online we are free to do anything? Shouldn't we reconsider anonymity online?" A Betting and Gaming Council representative told BBC Sport that the organization does "not tolerate abuse on social media, which has no place in betting or sport." In a statement, the organization said: "It is vital social media companies take swift action against users, remove offensive content and work more closely with BGC members on measures to further strengthen safer gambling. Each month, around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet, on the lottery, in bookmakers, casinos, bingo halls and online, and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly." Meta, which owns social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Jonathan Hirshler, the CEO of Signify Group, which developed the Threat Matrix service, said that the fact that a lot of the abuse came from a small number of accounts "means that we are able to be even more focused working with the platforms to ensure successful take down, support the tennis bodies to drive law enforcement intervention for the most egregious accounts and work with event security teams to ensure prolific abusers are unable to attend tournaments." The threat of online abuse can also tip into real-world threats. At the French Open, Clara Tauson of Denmark and Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic confronted bettors who abused them from the stands. And in March, at a practice session during the Miami Open, Iga Swiatek was confronted by someone who has regularly abused her online. The tournament gave Swiatek additional security after the incident, which a representative for the five-time Grand Slam champion described as "a direct transition from verbal aggression online to harassment in the real world."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why online abuse of tennis players led to law enforcement investigations in 2024
Tennis players last year received abuse so threatening that 15 cases were escalated to law enforcement agencies, according to a joint report released Tuesday by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF). The report, which covers the 2024 season, lays bare the scale of abuse directed at players on social media. It also offers a reminder that the detected abuse only scratches the surface. Advertisement Between January to December 2024, an artificial intelligence threat analysis system analyzed 1.6 million posts and comments. It verified around 8,000 posts/comments sent from 4,200 accounts as abusive, violent or threatening. 8,000 out of 1.6 million is just 0.5 percent, underlining the true scale of the problem. The report identified 458 players as targeted with direct abuse or threats, with five players receiving 26 percent of the posts classified as abusive. 97 social media accounts were responsible for 23 percent of all detected abuse. According to the data analysis, angry gamblers sent 40 percent of all detected abuse across the year. Of the 10 most prolific accounts, responsible for 12 percent of all abuse detected, nine have either been suspended or deleted their post(s), or had them removed by the relevant platform. One account sent 263 abusive messages in 2024, but has not posted any abusive content in 2025 to date. Of the 15 incidents reported to law enforcement agencies, four took place at the Grand Slams, one at the Olympics, and the other 10 were across tour events. Three were submitted to the FBI, with 12 investigated by other national law enforcement bodies. They led to individuals being banned from venues and having tickets rescinded. Advertisement Signify Group's Threat Matrix service, which went live in January 2024, is designed to help protect players by detecting and filtering out abusive messages through a combination of AI and human analysts. All players competing in WTA Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour events (and WTA and ITF players competing in the four Grand Slams) are automatically covered by the service. But targeted abuse is just the tip of the iceberg. During last month's French Open, Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3, said that abuse always finds a way to enter her timeline, even if not directed at her. 'These bettors are insane and delusional,' Pegula wrote in the wake of her shock fourth-round defeat to French qualifier Loïs Boisson. 'I don't allow DMs, and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks … This stuff has never really bothered me much, but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I'd love to know because it seems to be predominantly tennis? It's so disturbing. Advertisement 'Every person on tour deals with it. It's so bad. Those are just really small snippets. I get told my family should get cancer and die from people on here on a regular basis. Absolutely crazy.' Bettors and angry fans will name players in abusive comments after a loss, even if they do not message or tag them on social media when doing so. The normalization of this kind of abuse has become a major issue for the sport, and is the natural next step for people who have been blocked or can't message the targets of their abuse directly. has contacted the WTA and ITF for clarity on what the report classifies as targeted hate. The ITF, the WTA and its men's counterpart, the ATP, share match data with providers linked to sports betting. Pegula, who sits on the WTA Players' Council, said Tuesday: 'Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure. I welcome the work that the WTA and ITF are doing with Threat Matrix to identify and take action against the abusers, whose behavior is so often linked to gambling. Advertisement 'But it's not enough on its own. It's time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source and act to protect everyone facing these threats.' Caroline Garcia, the French former world No. 4 who will retire later this year, opened up on the damaging effects of social media abuse at the U.S. Open last August. She wrote on Instagram that 'unhealthy betting' accounted for most of the abuse, and emphasized how damaging it was to players who were already 'emotionally destroyed' after a defeat. 'If someone decided to say these things to me in public, he could have legal issues. So why online we are free to do anything? Shouldn't we reconsider anonymity online?' Garcia wrote. A Betting and Gaming Council spokesperson told BBC Sport that the organization does 'not tolerate abuse on social media, which has no place in betting or sport'. has contacted the organization for comment, as well as Meta, the company which owns social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Advertisement Jonathan Hirshler, the chief executive of Signify Group, which developed the Threat Matrix service, said that the fact that a lot of the abuse came from a small number of accounts 'means that we are able to be even more focused working with the platforms to ensure successful take down, support the tennis bodies to drive law enforcement intervention for the most egregious accounts and work with event security teams to ensure prolific abusers are unable to attend tournaments.' The threat of online abuse can also tip into real-world threats. At the French Open, Denmark's Clara Tauson and Jakub Menšík of the Czech Republic both confronted bettors who abused them from the stands. And in March, at a practice session during the Miami Open, world No. 8 Iga Świątek was confronted by someone who has regularly abused her online. The tournament gave Świątek additional security after the incident, which a representative for the five-time Grand Slam champion described to as 'a direct transition from verbal aggression online to harassment in the real world.' It's not clear whether the tweets from the man who confronted Świątek would have counted as targeted abuse, as some did not tag her directly. The report outlines a spike in abuse from gamblers during Grand Slams. As Wimbledon gets under way on Mon. June 30, players will again face abuse and harassment from people gambling on their matches. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Sports Business, Culture, Tennis, Betting Controversy, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canadian teen Mboko reaches final round of French Open qualifying
PARIS — Victoria Mboko advanced to the third round of French Open qualifying with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kathinka von Deichmann on Thursday. The 18-year-old Canadian won 82 per cent of her first serves and converted six of seven break-point chances. Mboko overcame six double faults and fired the match's only ace, while von Deichmann committed nine double faults. She improved her season record to 39-5, with most of her wins coming on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour circuit. The Toronto native is bidding to reach her first Grand Slam main draw and will face Slovenia's Kaja Juvan on Friday in the final round of qualifying. Mboko is looking to join four fellow Canadians — Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo, both of Montreal, and Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont. — in the main singles draw at Roland-Garros. Fernandez, ranked No. 27 on the WTA Tour, will open against No. 34 Olga Danilovic of Serbia. Shapovalov enters as the top-ranked Canadian on the ATP Tour at No. 27 and will face Spain's Pedro Martinez in the first round. Auger-Aliassime, ranked No. 30, meets Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, while No. 53 Diallo opens against No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. All three Canadian men are in the same quarter of the draw, which also features No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 6 Novak Djokovic, No. 11 Daniil Medvedev and No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov. Fernandez and Diallo will also compete in doubles. Canada's top-ranked women's doubles player, Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski, is also slated to play along with doubles partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand. But the reigning WTA Finals doubles champions withdrew from their semifinal at the warm-up Strasbourg Open on Thursday, with the WTA saying Dabrowski is dealing with a chest injury. Rob Shaw of North Bay, Ont., received a wild card into the wheelchair quad singles and doubles draws at Roland-Garros. Auger-Aliassime continued his preparation for the French Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-3 win over France's Alexandre Muller in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Open. The sixth-seeded Auger-Aliassime had six aces and converted four of 12 break-point chances. Auger-Aliassime will face third-seed Andrey Rublev of Russia in the semifinals. Rublev enters the match with a 6-1 record against the Canadian. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2025. The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian teen Mboko reaches final round of French Open qualifying
PARIS – Victoria Mboko advanced to the third round of French Open qualifying with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kathinka von Deichmann on Thursday. The 18-year-old Canadian won 82 per cent of her first serves and converted six of seven break-point chances. Mboko overcame six double faults and fired the match's only ace. Von Deichmann committed nine double faults. Mboko improved her season record to 39-5, with most of her wins coming on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour circuit. The Toronto native is bidding to reach her first Grand Slam main draw. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. She'll face Slovenia's Kaja Juvan on Friday in the final round of qualifying. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Mboko advances to second round of French Open qualifying tournament
PARIS - Rising tennis star Victoria Mboko moved a step closer to qualifying for her first career Grand Slam main draw with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Austria's Sinja Kraus on Tuesday. The 18-year-old from Toronto fired five aces on the clay courts of Roland Garros while winning 79 per cent of first-serve points to advance to the second round of the three-round qualifying tournament. Mboko finished the match with a break — her fifth in seven chances. She had a break-point chance in six of her nine return games. She will next face Kathinka von Deichmann of Liechtenstein on Thursday. Von Deichmann advanced with a 6-1, 6-0 win over seventh seed Rebecca Marino of Vancouver. Mboko improved her record this season to 38-5, with most of her wins coming on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour circuit. She is coming off a runner-up performance at last week's WTA 125 Parma Ladies Open. Mboko, who entered the tournament ranked No. 122 in the world, was the only Canadian to advance in qualifying Tuesday. Romania's Patricia Tig downed Kayla Cross of London, Ont., 6-4, 6-2, in another women's first-round match. In men's qualifying, Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., fell 6-2, 6-2 to Austria's Flilp Misolic. Mboko joins 17th seed Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., 24th seed Marina Stakusic, also of Mississauga, and Carson Branstine, a Californian who represents Canada internationally, in the second round of qualifying. Andreescu faces Japan's Nao Hibino, Stakusic plays Tamara Korpatsch of Germany and Branstine meets 10th seed Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland on Wednesday. Also Tuesday, top seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand advanced to the semifinal of the Internationaux de Strasbourg with a 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 win over Spain's Cristina Bucsa and Xu Yifan. Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face Luisa Stefani of Brazil and Timea Babos of Hungary on Thursday. Sixth-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal faced Germany's David Altmaier later Tuesday in the opening round of the Hamburg Open. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.
