Coco Gauff Reveals Crazy Death Threats And Racism She Receives Online
NewsFriday, 20 June 2025 at 22:57
Coco Gauff has become the latest player to discuss the disgusting and sometimes frightening abuse she receives on social media.
The issue of online hatred and abuse is not new, and many athletes worldwide try to find the balance between connecting with their genuine fans while being able to block out or report horrible responses from some accounts.
Jessica Pegula did an Instagram story that showed how despicable online bettors are. She posted it after losing in the 2025 Roland Garros quarterfinal to the local wild card, Lois Boisson.
The comments ranged from mocking her tennis ability all the way to telling Pegula to kill herself and insulting the 2024 US Open runner-up about the sad loss of her beloved dog before Roland Garros began.
Katie Boulter spoke this week at the 2025 Nottingham Open about the kind of abuse she has received, and the Briton's fiancé, Alex de Minaur, said some players do not manage their social media because of the hostility they face.
Gauff backed up the concerns of her fellow players when she spoke at the 2025 Berlin Open. The 2025 Roland Garros women's singles champion said the abuse received is the worst that fans can imagine.
"It’s the worst you can get. Death threats, to your family, to yourself. I’ve had people DM my boyfriend and friends about it. Racist comments, like all you can imagine. Nudity, things like that. It’s a gross kind of thing that we have going on in tennis."
Although the 21-year-old praised the WTA for its efforts to protect players from the worst of the abuse, she would like to see social media platforms do more to prevent the spread of online hatred.
"I know the WTA is doing what they can to make us feel protected, but I definitely think that a lot of these platforms can step in as well. I think TikTok does a better job of filtering comments, so you don’t really see it. But Instagram is, for me, the worst with the comment filtering. I see basically everything on there."
It is sad that players have to deal with so many vile individuals. They can sometimes drown out the positivity fans send to their favorite ATP and WTA stars, especially since players may be afraid to look at any of the comments.
Unfortunately, professional athletes also have to be vigilant to in-person threats. That was demonstrated when Emma Raducanu got stalked at three tournaments during the 2025 Middle Eastern swing.
Despite getting a restraining order against the stalker, the man responsible was caught trying to get tickets for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships by the tournament's security systems. Raducanu recently admitted it took her a while to get over being stalked in the Middle East.
Gauff lost her first match since winning the Roland Garros title, falling to Xinyu Wang in Berlin. Playing again so soon after triumphing at the French Open was never going to be easy, and she never looked comfortable throughout the defeat in the German capital.
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