After losing, Svitolina received death threats from gamblers, and Kyrgios spoke out: "Disgusting!"

Kyrgios recently showed support for Ukrainian player Svitolina, who received death threats after her quarterfinal finish at the Montreal Open.

Svitolina lost in the quarterfinals with a score of 2-6, 2-6 to Japan's star Naomi Osaka, missing out on the semifinals. Osaka dominated in several areas during the match. Svitolina made four double faults and converted only one of five break points, while Osaka capitalized on four of six break points.

After the match, Osaka stated at the press conference that she expected it to be a tough battle: "I don’t really pay attention to my opponent’s stats; I know everyone is tough to deal with. I was lucky to have faced her a few times before and knew she is one of the toughest competitors on the tour, so I was prepared for a hard fight."

Earlier in the tournament, Svitolina had caused an upset by defeating the fifth seed and Wimbledon runner-up Anisimova with a score of 6-4, 6-1. She mentioned that she would learn from her loss to Osaka to prepare for upcoming matches.

However, shortly after the match, Svitolina received numerous abusive and threatening messages from angry gamblers. The screenshots she shared revealed a plethora of shocking remarks filled with sexism, racism, and vicious violent threats, even including xenophobic comments.

Upon seeing these messages, Kyrgios expressed his anger, commenting with just one word: "Disgusting. ☹️"

In response to the online abuse, Svitolina also hit back strongly. According to The Tennis Letter, she said, "To all the gamblers: I am first a mother, and secondly an athlete. The way you speak to women—especially mothers—is shameful. If your mothers saw your comments, they would feel disgusted..."

Despite the widespread attention Svitolina's experience has garnered, social media violence is not new in tennis. In recent years, nearly every top player has found their private messages flooded with insults after match losses. Especially following significant matches or unexpected defeats, players often become targets for the venting anger of losing bettors. This "post-match wave of online abuse" has nearly become a "regular occurrence" outside of matches, with its persistence and severity becoming increasingly serious.

Although some tournament organizers have begun to implement AI content filtering technology to intercept abusive and aggressive messages, this technology is still in its infancy, with limited coverage, and cannot truly protect most athletes from violent language. Particularly on large platforms like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook, numerous anonymous accounts continue to attack repeatedly, and the reporting mechanisms are lagging, leaving the victimized players overwhelmed.

The WTA and ITF have repeatedly called for platform providers and organizers to work together to strengthen both technical and managerial protections to prevent athletes from being forced to face a mental "second exhaustion" outside of matches. Notably, earlier, Svitolina's husband Monfils humorously responded to attacks from gamblers after his loss in Stuttgart, saying, "Are you still betting on me? Against a young guy on grass... You say I'm terrible... Who's the bigger fool?"

Svitolina's next stop will be the Cincinnati Open from August 12 to 19, which is her last WTA 1000 event before the US Open. She has performed well this season and is expected to compete as a seeded player in the US Open. Earlier in the 2025 season, Svitolina reached the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon and won the Rouen Open (WTA 250), marking her first singles title in nearly two years.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Spark)