Elina Svitolina addresses 'shameful' online comments after NBO loss

MONTREAL — Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has spoken out about the deluge of hateful abuse she received online from frustrated gamblers after losing a match in Canada, including messages wishing her death and celebrating Russia killing her compatriots.

Following her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open on Tuesday night, Svitolina posted screenshots of the messages on Instagram.

The abuse was directed at her, while other racial slurs also targeted her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is Black. One abuser hoped that Russia “kills all you (expletive) Ukrainians” in the war raging in Svitolina's country.

“To all the bettors: I’m a mum before I’m an athlete,” Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. “The way you talk to women — to mothers — is SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they’d be disgusted.”

Earlier this year, British player Katie Boulter said she received death threats during the French Open targeting her and her family, while the WTA and ITF called on betting companies to do more to stem the flood of online abuse players face on social media.

Boulter told the BBC in an interview that online abuse has become the norm and that she thinks many of the messages are sent by people who are placing bets on tennis matches.

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