Following her first-round loss in the U.S. Open, French tennis star Caroline Garcia shared just some of the "hundreds" of hate-filled messages, including violent threats, that she has received after losing matches.
Garcia, who has seen her ranking fall from a career-high of No. 4 to No. 28, told her more than 170,000 followers on X Wednesday that the hatred athletes receive online concerns her for future generations.
"It really worries me when I think about younger players coming up, that have to go through this," Garcia said. "People that still haven’t yet developed fully as a human and that really might be affected by this hate. Maybe you can think that it doesn’t hurt us. But it does. We are humans."
The 30-year-old believes the growing popularity of sports gambling is driving the hate on social media.
"Tournaments and the sport keeps partnering with betting companies, which keep attracting new people to unhealthy betting," Garcia wrote. "The days of cigarette brands sponsoring sports are long gone. Yet, here we are promoting betting companies, which actively destroy the life of some people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should be banned as people are free to do whatever they want with their money. But maybe we should not promote them."
RELATED STORY | LSU's Angel Reese: 'I've been sexualized, I've been threatened'
"Also, if someone decided to say this things to me in public, he could have legal issues," Garcia continued. "So why online we are free to do anything? Shouldn't we reconsider anonymity online?"
It was a message that resonated with other tennis players, including world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who praised Garcia for speaking out. American tennis star Jessica Pegula shared Garcia's statement on social media and echoed the same sentiment.
"Yep. The constant death threats and family threats are normal now," the 30-year-old Pegula replied. "Win or lose."
It's nothing new for athletes and other prominent individuals in the public spotlight to be openly criticized online. But it does raise questions about the potential influence that sports betting may have on the hateful online rhetoric from so-called fans.
RELATED STORY | 1 in 5 Women's World Cup players faced online abuse, FIFA report finds
Americans wagered more than $31 billion on sports events in the second quarter of this year, according to the American Gaming Association, a 35% increase from a year prior. Meanwhile, a 2022 study by the data science company Signify found that 1 in 4 players competing in professional tennis tournaments that year were "subject to abuse" online.
International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty previously said in a statement to Signify that it's "a serious problem for athletes" that must be addressed.
"Tennis must be a sport in which players can compete to the best of their ability," he said. "Free from any form of harassment.
