British tennis player Heather Watson says she has received social media abuse “daily” during her career and had her first death threat aged 18. Watson was speaking after compatriot Katie Boulter told BBC Sport about the scale of unsavoury and hurtful comments she has received online, including death threats. And Sir Andy Murray has said...
“Athletes across all sports have been discussing this for a long time, but it hasn’t really changed. Hopefully something can get done soon.” Asked for his view – as both an ex-player and father-of-four – about what could be done to eradicate toxic abuse, Murray said: “If I’m being honest I don’t know. Me and...
The All England Club is set to recognise Sir Andy Murray’s contribution to tennis with a statue of him at Wimbledon. Murray ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon with a memorable victory over Novak Djokovic in 2013, and triumphed again at SW19 in 2016 when he beat Milos Raonic. Former...
Speaking after her round-of-32 defeat to Francesca Jones at the Nottingham Open on Tuesday, British number four Harriet Dart called for the introduction of identification measures when creating social media accounts. “The amount of abuse that we all get is pretty mind blowing,” Dart said. “The WTA are obviously trying to do something about it...
Boulter believes a lot of the abuse she is sent is from people who have placed bets on her matches, given it comes after victories as well as defeats. She says she has become better at moving on from it, or simply not looking at her direct messages, but the impact is clear. “As far...
Players who undergo fertility treatment will be able to use their special ranking to enter up to three tournaments within 10 weeks of their return. The special ranking will be an average of a player’s ranking over a 12-week period before and during their leave. Players will not, however, be able to use this ranking...
Tennis players get used to playing through pain and discomfort during a long season. Japan’s Naomi Osaka says she won two of her four Grand Slams while injured, adding: “I can rarely count the number of times I have felt perfect on the court. “But I do know I’m the type of person that if...
Sinner had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel, but Wada launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), seeking a ban of up to two years. However, he reached a settlement with the anti-doping agency for a shorter sanction and is expected to make his comeback at the...
Russian Daria Kasatkina will switch allegiance to Australia after her application for permanent residency was accepted. The 27-year-old, who has criticised Russia’s LGBTQ+ rules and opposed the war in Ukraine, has been living in Dubai and has not returned to Russia in two and a half years. Last month she denied suggestions she had switched...
