Britain’s Katie Boulter speaks on the levels of social media abuse she receives.
BBC SPORT
Katie Boulter had just lost a tie-break at the French Open when the death threats started.
It did not matter that the Briton would go on to win the match.
“Hope you get cancer,” said one message.
Another – laced with expletives – referenced damaging her “grandmother’s grave if she’s not dead by tomorrow” and “candles and a coffin for your entire family”.
A third said: “Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me.”
The British number two’s response, as she reads through them 10 days later, is a mix of despair, resignation and fear.
Boulter agreed to sit down with BBC Sport to provide unprecedented insight into the volume and nature of abuse received by players, including sharing screenshots of her private inbox.
The first, she says, is abusive content like this has become “the norm”. Boulter, 28, also has fears about the impact it can have on younger players.