A Difficult Return to the Tour
Jodie Burrage made her first WTA Tour singles appearance in 16 months at the Chennai Open on Tuesday, only to face a painful reminder of why stepping away from the tour had felt necessary. The 27-year-old Londoner lost a hard-fought three-setter to India's Vaishnavi Adkar, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, in what was already an emotionally charged comeback match. What followed was even more distressing. Burrage took to Instagram to share a video scroll of abusive direct messages she received after the defeat, including death threats. Her caption said it all: "Nice welcome back to tour. I remember why I left." German player Eva Lys quickly responded by tagging the WTA and demanding action, amplifying the outrage across social media.
A Wider Crisis in Women's Tennis
This incident is not an isolated case. Research using artificial intelligence tracking by the Signify Group found that female tennis players faced more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages in 2025 alone. Gambling appears to be a major driver of the problem. The same research found that frustrated bettors were responsible for 59% of serious abuse directed at players that year. Burrage has spoken about this connection before, noting that some abusive messages explicitly reference gambling losses. Fellow British player Katie Boulter has also publicly confirmed receiving death threats, reinforcing how widespread the issue has become across the tour. Players have called on social media companies to introduce identity verification as a potential deterrent, with Burrage previously arguing that linking real identities to accounts would make people far more accountable for what they post. The WTA's player board has condemned such abuse as completely unacceptable, but meaningful platform-level solutions remain elusive. TennisDraw users rallying behind Burrage's return will be hoping the tour and social media companies act swiftly to protect its players.
