Victoria Mboko’s coach, Nathalie Tauziat, condemns the online harassment some tennis players face, insisting that those who verbally attack athletes have “no brain” and praising players for publicizing rude messages from bettors.
In recent years, social media abuse has surged in tennis, with many players saying their Instagram DMs fill up with hostile and insulting messages after defeats. Usually, these messages come from people who placed bets on the match and lost.
Players don’t have a foolproof way to block such messages unless they delete their accounts, leaving them exposed to both praise and venom. In response, more players have begun sharing screenshots of the messages to shed light on the issue. This transparency can reveal the names of those who send the abuse.
Tauziat, who coached Mboko and is a former eight-time WTA champion and a once-ranked world No. 3, blasted the abusive bettors. “The individuals who do that have nothing better to do with their lives; that’s how you should view it,” she told CLAY. She also emphasized that there’s little players can do beyond acknowledging the problem and safeguarding their own mental well-being.
She added, at 58, that while this generation is more accustomed to social media, it remains the responsibility of parents and a player’s team to keep such online behavior from spiraling.
Despite the noise online, Tauziat has helped Mboko achieve notable success, guiding the 19-year-old to Montreal and Hong Kong titles this year and helping her reach a career-high ranking of No. 18 in the world.
