Svitolina slams online bettors for abuse after loss to Osaka

Elina Svitolina

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has spoken out about the deluge of hateful abuse she received online from frustrated gamblers after losing a match in Canada, including messages wishing her death and celebrating Russia killing her compatriots.

Following her straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals of the WTA Canadian Open on Tuesday night, Svitolina posted screenshots of the messages she received on Instagram.

The abuse was directed at her, while other racial slurs also targeted her husband, the French tennis player Gael Monfils, who is black. One abuser hoped that Russia ‘kills all you [expletive] Ukrainians' in the war raging in Svitolina's country.

"To all the bettors: I'm a mum before I'm an athlete," Svitolina wrote in her Instagram story. "The way you talk to women - to mothers - is shameful. If your mothers saw your messages, they'd be disgusted," she added.

Tenth seed Svitolina went down 2-6, 2-6 to her American opponent, a four-time Grand Slam champion.

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