A British tennis star has revealed she was trying not to look at her phone following her first-round Wimbledon defeat after opening up about the amount of online abuse she receives from possible gamblers.
Jodie Burrage, 26, lost in straight sets to American Caty McNally on Tuesday despite a series of encouraging results on the grass.
Following her defeat, the British Number Seven called for more accountability on social media platforms, explaining that she often receives messages from people saying she has lost them money.
Burrage told reporters that more could be done to try and prevent the online abuse, describing how “it’s not easy to deal with”.
She said: “I think it’s very simple to have someone’s ID connected to their account and that would quickly stop what people write and make them more accountable.
“I’m just guessing that they’re gamblers. Some of them say ‘you’ve lost me this amount of money,’ so some of them are.
“That’s the only explanation I’ve got otherwise, they are just very bad people.
“Yes, it’s tough… I’m trying not to look at my phone. It’s not easy to deal with, but I do think there could be more being done.
“I don’t know if there is anything behind the scenes or anything. But that’s out of my control, I can just deal with what we’ve got at the moment.”
The tennis player revealed that around half of the abuse she receives online is about her body image.
The tennis player previously explained to Ok! Magazine that she faces abuse online after nearly every game, with many appearing to insult her appearance.
Speaking to the magazine ahead of the tournament, she explained: “Right now, people are loving the pig emoji on my Instagram.
“I’m a bigger girl than a lot of others in professional tennis and it’s a conversation I’ve had to deal with throughout my whole career. That’s the downside of social media. It’s tough.”
Burrage also revealed how she had rolled her ankle on the bottom step of the media centre on Friday ahead of her game, which she said “shook me a little bit”.
The tennis player has been battling injuries over the last year, but qualified for the women’s singles tournament as a wild card.
She added: “My body’s been fine since coming back and I think that’s just why it’s disappointing that something happens like that at a tournament like this.”
The tennis player broke down in tears at the end of her post-match press conference as she spoke about the disappointment of her first-round exit in the singles tournament.
She continued: “There is a bit of disappointment when you have everyone watching you and a lot of family members, friends and it’s disappointing when you can’t play how you want to play and you feel like you’ve let them down.
“People will not say that at all and they will tell me how proud they are of me, but it’s probably that that hurts the most and I guess it’s [the] pressure that comes along with these events.
“On the flipside last time I played I had a great time and it was nice to share that with them - but that’s just the highs and lows.”
Burrage is now contemplating a trip to Australia to cheer on rugby star boyfriend Ben White, who was a late addition to the British and Irish Lions squad for their series against the Wallabies.
She is still scheduled to play doubles in south west London this week.
