3 min readNov 4, 2026 03:31 PM ISTFILE - British tennis player Jodie Burrage in action. (Reuters)British tennis player Jodie Burrage lost to India’s Vaishnavi Adkar in the first round of the WTA Chennai Open on Tuesday, but that was not the worst part of her day.The 27-year-old won the first set and even led 5-3 in the decider, but faded away 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and 47 minutes. She struggled physically on court and had her blood pressure and oxygen levels checked as thee matched approached its conclusion. Burrage was visibly shaking in the humid conditions and had ice rubbed on her arms and legs.But that was nothing compared to the trauma suffered when she checked her phone. She said she had received death threats and abuse on Instagram after her defeat.“Nice welcome back to tour. I remember why I left,” Burrage said in an accompanying message.Tuesday’s match was Burrage’s first singles match on the WTA Tour in 16 months. Her previous encounter on the Tour, excluding qualifiers, was in July 2025 when she lost to Catherine McNally in the first round at Wimbledon. She reached a career-high ranking of 85 in September 2023.Talking after that defeat, Burrage had said that she had to stop herself from looking at her phone due to online abuse. She added that it was not a problem impossible to eradicate.“I think it’s very simple to have someone’s ID connected to their account and that would, I think, quickly stop what people write and make them more accountable,” Burrage said, according to Sky Sports.Story continues below this adShe said the offenders may be people who had bet money on her matches and were frustrated at their losses.“I’m just guessing that they’re gamblers; some of them say, ‘You’ve lost me this amount of money’ or whatever, so some of them are. I don’t know, that’s the only explanation I’ve got otherwise they are just very bad people.“But yes, it’s tough and today I’m trying not to look at my phone. It’s not easy to deal with, but I do think there could be more being done.”After the latest incident, Germany player Eva Lys tagged the WTA from her Instagram handle and asked: “When will something be done?”Story continues below this adAccording to a report, female tennis players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media last year.The Women’s Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation have reported that 458 players were direct targets of abuse in 2024. The report, produced using an AI-led detection system developed by the Signify Group, found that gamblers were responsible for 40 percent of the social media abuse, a figure that rose to 77 percent for direct abuse directed towards players’ personal accounts.The WTA’s player board has previously condemned the abuse as “unacceptable” and said the impact can be “significant”.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement