Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek’s Voices Get Heard as WTA Takes a Massive Initiative for Players’ Well-Being

Published 12/20/2023, 11:30 PM EST

The WTA takes a bold swing to protect players from unnecessary hate. A lot of things have changed with time, but at the same time, with the rise of social media, there is a lot of chaos in the tennis world. While the digital space helps the fans stay connected with the players, has also given rise to unnecessary hate.

Players including Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, have clearly opened up about their stand against online hate. But now, they have nothing to worry about, as the WTA is on their side, ready to stand up against all the unnecessary chaos. Recently, the Tennis Association has taken a huge step to counter social media toxicity.

WTA to counter online abuse

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The tennis governing bodies have all come together to combat the online abuse of players. Whether it be the ITF, WTA, AELTC, or USTA, they will use that Matrix service to monitor players’ social media for abuses of threatening content on a lot of different social media websites, including Instagram, X (Twitter), or even TikTok.

Four of the “Seven Kingdoms” in tennis launch a new service to battle online abuse of players.
A worthy cause, and an interesting split here in a fractious time for the sport:
WTA, ITF, Wimbledon and USTA joined forces on this;
ATP, Tennis Australia, and FFT sitting it out. pic.twitter.com/ErRJaRnA0u
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) December 20, 2023

Moreover, the new monitoring service will start on January 1st, 2024, and will probably take care of all the unnecessary hate the tennis players receive every now and then. The different tennis bodies will aim to protect their players by identifying the person who is behind threats and other inappropriate content.

But before that, do you know that the top WTA tennis players, Swiatek and Gauff, have always been open about online abuse, and now it won’t be wrong to say that their voices have been heard? A few months ago, during this Cincinnati Masters, the three-time French Open champion talked about the way she looks at online abuse.

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She stated, “I want to encourage people to be more thoughtful when they comment on the internet. We all sacrifice a lot. We’re all working really hard to be in that place.” Along with that, she also highlighted how she has looked at the positive perspective and even taken the negative comments as motivation to do better on the tennis court.

Apart from that, even the 19-year-old shared her transparent views on how she is dealing with all kinds of social media harassment on a day-to-day basis.

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Coco Gauff’s way of dealing with online hate

After her WTA finals law to the world’s number one ranked tennis player, Gauff opened up about how she has created a blocking spree, making a difference between fans and haters herself. The 2023 US Open champion said, “I only block people who are negative, not my fans. I don’t search for these pages. It comes on my timeline. when you deal with the daily harassment I deal with every single day; death threats, racism, body shaming. etc. it is exhausting.”

Although she has become one of the most popular players on the tour with a growing fan base, she also has to face the dark side of the brain in the form of online trolls and critics. While she is quite openly open about what kinds of threads she has to deal with daily on social media, that new monitoring system might help her find some peace in the digital world.

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Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on the WTA’s recent action to deal with social media hate? Share your views in the comment section below.

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Written by:

Watching the biggest sports events have been a part of my life right from my early childhood. Although I have grown up watching a variety of sports, including tennis, cricket, and esports, I have a special connection to tennis. Thus, when it came to building a career in sports journalism, I focused on the racket sport.

Edited by:

Ananya Giri

Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek’s Voices Get Heard as WTA Takes a Massive Initiative for Players’ Well-Being

WTA to counter online abuse

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Coco Gauff’s way of dealing with online hate