PARIS: French tennis player Alice Tubello has filed a complaint over online abuse from sports bettors following 300 hateful messages she received after a recent defeat, a source close to the case told AFP on Saturday.
The 23-year-old’s complaint to Paris prosecutors also denounced identity theft after a false Facebook page, now closed, was created in her name and posted slurs targeting her family.
The 219-ranked player said she received a torrent of abuse after losing in the quarter-finals in Arequipa, Peru, last month to local player Dana Guzman.
Tubello claimed the defeat triggered a wave of hatred from sports bettors through her social media accounts.
Contacted by AFP, Tubello slammed “recurring abuses with sports betting, sponsors of the world tennis organization.”
“Whether it’s a victory or a defeat, every time after a match, I receive hate messages,” she said.
“I’ve even had punters come behind the fence on my property.
“Security has increased at tournaments, but there is still this phenomenon of online abuse under the cover of anonymity.”
The content of the fake Facebook page, presenting her father as “a paedophile” or publishing racist messages, were particularly distressing.
“They touched my family, I will not give up,” she insisted, hopeful that investigators can identify and arrest those involved.
Fellow French tennis player Caroline Garcia also recently shared some of the disparaging messages she has received in the wake of defeats, citing “unhealthy betting” as a driver of social media abuse of players.
After her US Open first round defeat, Garcia shared “just a few” of the messages, including one telling her to shoot herself and another saying “I hope your mom dies soon.”
“Tournaments and the sport keeps partnering with betting companies, which keep attracting new people to unhealthy betting,” former world number four Garcia said.
“The days of cigarette brands sponsoring sports are long gone. Yet, here we are promoting betting companies, which actively destroy the life of some people.”

NEW YORK: Jessica Pegula staged an astonishing recovery from a set and a break down to defeat Karolina Muchova and reach her first Grand Slam final at the US Open on Thursday.
The sixth-ranked American came through 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 and will take on world number two and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s championship match.
Sabalenka reached her second successive US Open final by seeing off another American, Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
“I thought I was lucky to still be in it,” admitted Pegula after seeing Czech opponent Muchova miss an easy chance to go 3-0 up with a double break in the second set.
“She made me look like a beginner, she was destroying me and I was about to burst into tears but it all came down to small moments.
“I don’t know how I turned that around.”
Pegula has now won 15 of 16 matches on the US summer hard court swing which saw a title in Toronto and defeat in the Cincinnati final to Sabalenka.
“It’s a chance for revenge, but she’ll be tough to beat,” said Pegula.
Muchova saved three break points in the third game of the first set which sparked a rapid collapse by Pegula.
The 30-year-old American dropped serve in the fourth and sixth games and lost a set for the first time in the tournament.
Muchova’a all-court game yielded 11 winners to her opponent’s three as the opener was wrapped up in just 28 minutes.
It was a severe comedown for Pegula who had knocked out world number one Iga Swiatek on Wednesday to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal after losing all six of her previous last-eight matches.
Muchova then broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set, racking up a seventh game in a row before Pegula stopped the rot.
That suddenly reinvigorated the American who went 4-2 ahead before being pulled back to 4-4 but then levelled the semifinal when Muchova double-faulted on set point.
Pegula sprinted to a break up at 3-0 in the decider and then 5-2 after a seventh game which stretched to alnmost 10 minutes.
The last of Muchova’s 46 unforced errors sealed her fate.