WTA Supports Burrage After Chennai Open Death Threats

The WTA has provided support to British player Jodie Burrage after she received death threats and online abuse. The 27-year-old, ranked 474th, faced the abuse following her first-round defeat to India's Vaishnavi Adkar at the Chennai Open, which was her first WTA Tour singles match in 16 months.

Staff from the tour were on site in Chennai to offer assistance. They provided Burrage with a private channel to report abusive direct messages. The WTA also uses its moderation systems to hide abusive comments on public channels before the player can see them. Burrage had shared a video on her Instagram page showing some of the abusive messages she received, captioning it, "Nice welcome back to the tour. I remember why I left."

WTA Support and Threat Matrix Response

The support offered is part of the WTA's broader Threat Matrix system. This AI-led service, launched three years ago in partnership with Wimbledon, World Tennis, and the United States Tennis Association, aims to identify and stop online abuse targeting players and officials. The system reports abuse to social media platforms and investigates to identify the responsible parties. Following her experience, fellow player Eva Lys expressed solidarity with Burrage and called on the WTA to take action. Despite the singles loss, Burrage won her doubles match in the last 16 of the Chennai Open alongside partner Robin Montgomery.

Online Abuse Statistics and Gambler Involvement

Data from the Threat Matrix service reveals the scale of the problem faced by female players. In 2025, the system identified over 12,000 abusive social media posts and messages directed at them. A significant portion of this abuse is linked to gambling. Angry gamblers were responsible for 42% of all verified abuse and a staggering 59% of cases classified as serious abuse.

The WTA works with gambling companies to flag abuse from gamblers in real time. Abuse linked to betting is added to a Bad Actor programme for betting operators to act against the accounts. A report released in July stated the programme successfully removed 66% of the serious abusive posts and comments it identified. Furthermore, 35 accounts linked to 12 individuals were escalated to law enforcement. However, Mhairi Maclennan, chief executive of athlete advocacy group Kyniska Advocacy, stated there is still not enough being done to protect athletes.

The issue is not isolated to Burrage. Emma Raducanu has said she became wary after being targeted by a stalker following social media abuse. Burrage herself had spoken out about online abuse after her first-round exit from Wimbledon in 2025. She received the death threats after her return to the tour in Chennai, which she described as a nice welcome back.