British tennis player Jodie Burrage has revealed she has received horrifying death threats on social media after playing her first match back on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour in 16 months.
World No 474 Burrage suffered a first-round defeat at the Chennai Open after losing to India’s Vaishnavi Adkar 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 – despite winning the first set.
After that setback, the 27-year-old shared on her Instagram story the level of abuse she has since been sent on the social-media platform.
‘Nice welcome back to tour. I remember why I left. When will something be done?’ she captioned the Instagram story with, tagging both the WTA and Instagram.
Among the vile direct messages, one read: ‘Your [sic] a quitter smh [shake my head]. You truly are a disgrace to the sport. You got your ass whooped today and you are the exact reason women’s sports are a joke.
‘Hope you go home and kill yourself bc [because] honestly that’s what’s best. You will never compare to a man b***h.’
The 27-year-old took to her Instagram story to reveal the abuse she was receiving after losing
One pending direct message read: ‘Die n riot [sic] on the streets’
Another shocking message directed at Burrage said: ‘F***** [sic] ****’
This was British No 15 Burrage’s first match on the WTA Tour since July 2025, excluding qualifiers, where she lost to Catherine McNally in the first round at Wimbledon.
Burrage’s revelation comes over a year after fellow British tennis player Katie Boulter opened up about receiving death threats on social media too.
Boulter was the unwarranted recipient of abuse after losing the first set of her first-round win over Carole Monnet at the 2025 French Open
Screenshots shown to the BBC revealed one message sent to Boulter read ‘Hope you get cancer’, while another referenced damaging her ‘grandmother’s grave if she’s not dead by tomorrow’ and ‘candles and a coffin for your entire family’.
A third message said: ‘Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me.’
