Tennis player Jodie Burges receives social media threats after exit from Chennai Open

British tennis player Jodie Burges has faced death threats and abuse on social media after losing her first main draw singles match at the Chennai Open 2026. This was her first singles match on the WTA Tour after a long hiatus of 16 months. In the match played on Tuesday, Burges lost to Vaishnavi Adkar 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Burges shared a video on Instagram with a long reel recording of the abuse she received. Along with this video, she wrote, “Great, welcome back to the tour. Reminded me why I left.” Most of the abusive messages appear to have been sent by gamblers who were unhappy with the defeat of the 27-year-old Burges.

According to a World Tennis report, it was stated in December 2024 that 'angry gamblers' were responsible for 48% of more than 12,000 posts identified as abuse on social media platforms between January and October 2024. Additionally, in July this year, the WTA stated in a report regarding online abuse against players that 89% of the accounts responsible for serious abuse in 2024 did not reappear in 2025. The WTA successfully removed 66% of serious abuse or comments and handed over 35 accounts to law enforcement agencies.

Such attacks on social media have been observed earlier. Last month, Coco Gauff stated that she received an "unbearable" number of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in her match against local player Sun Ziran in the China Open.

Jodie Burges is a British tennis player who recently played a match against Vaishnavi Adkar at the Chennai Open 2026. She made her return to the WTA Tour after a 16-month break.