Teen tennis sensation Mirra Andreeva reveals the sickening messages she received simply for losing one match
Teenage tennis prodigy Mirra Andreeva has been subjected to a torrent of vile online abuse following her third-round loss to American Amanda Anisimova at the Miami Open.
The 17-year-old Russian, fresh off back-to-back WTA 1000 victories in Dubai and Indian Wells, went down 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3 on Monday.
It derailed an extraordinary 13-match winning-streak that saw her cut a swathe through the biggest names in the sport, beating Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek and Arya Sabalenka.
Unfortunately, immediately after the match, Andreeva’s social media feed was flooded with hateful comments.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, she shared some of the abuse she received, captioning the screenshot, ‘And this is what you get when you lose 1 match’.
‘You look@like a man! Wtf! Deserve WORST CANCC3e exist,’ posted one person.
Mirra Andreeva (pictured) has been subjected to a flood of abuse following her third round loss to American Amanda Anisimova at the Miami Open
‘One of the worst player ever,’ posted another.
‘GO HOME,’ posted a third.
It comes after the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) last year warned that the number of female stars affected by online bullying is on the rise and urged social media bosses to make their platforms safer.
In 2022, British tennis star Emma Raducanu told police she was ‘constantly looking over her shoulder’ after a besotted former Amazon delivery driver tracked down her address and left notes, flowers and even Christmas decorations.
The 22-year-old’s ordeal continued last month in Dubai when another stalker appeared in the crowd during one of her matches leaving the tennis star cowering on the court in tears.
Raducanu has since deleted her Instagram account, which had boasted more than three million followers.
At last year’s Wimbledon event, organisers put together a team of investigators to protect players from online abuse, unmask trolls and identify potential stalkers during the tournament.
The extraordinary 17-year-old from Siberia is making waves in the tennis world with an incredible run of victories
British tennis star Emma Raducanu has also been the target of stalkers and online abuse
Monitoring service Threat Matrix used AI to constantly scan content on platforms such as X, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok for any harmful posts aimed at competitors.
Threat Matrix also offers a unique personalised service which provides support to players who receive abuse or threats via private direct messaging.
The system, which operates in 35 languages, has already worked with players and officials at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar and the Rugby World Cup.
Bosses said they expect some of the worst offenders to be gamblers who are angry they have lost a bet or are attempting to throw a player off their game in order to improve their odds.
