Female tennis players were bombarded with more than 12,000 abusive social media posts and messages throughout 2025, according to a newly published report from the Signify Group's threat matrix service. The AI-assisted detection system monitors content across major platforms including X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, supported by human analysts to verify findings.
While the overall volume of abuse remained stubbornly similar to 2024 levels, the report did highlight meaningful progress in tackling the problem. A notable 66% of serious abusive content was successfully removed, and 35 accounts connected to 12 individuals were escalated to law enforcement authorities, a sign that consequences are beginning to reach real people behind the harassment.
Gambling remained deeply entwined with the abuse epidemic. Angry bettors accounted for 42% of verified abusive posts in 2025 and a striking 59% of cases classified as serious abuse. Though slightly lower than the 48% share recorded in 2024, the gambling connection continues to dominate the landscape of online harassment toward female athletes.
Britain's Katie Boulter has been among the most vocal players on the issue, having publicly revealed she received death threats. Fellow players have united in calling for social media platforms to implement identity verification measures to deter anonymous abusers.
The WTA player board issued a statement calling the abuse "unacceptable" and acknowledging its significant impact on players. Both the WTA and World Tennis emphasized that meaningful change demands coordinated effort from social media companies, law enforcement, governing bodies, and the gambling industry alike.
As conversations around player welfare intensify heading into the second half of the season, TennisDraw users can factor player momentum and mental resilience into their bracket predictions more than ever before.
