Jodie Burrage Says Death Threats Followed Chennai Loss

Britain's Jodie Burrage has said she received death threats and abuse on social media after losing her first main-draw match on the women's professional tour in 16 months. A main-draw match is one played in the tournament's full draw, rather than in the qualifying rounds that come before it.

The 27-year-old, ranked 474th in the world, lost 3-6 6-3 7-5 to Vaishnavi Adkar in the first round of the Chennai Open. Her previous WTA Tour main-draw match came in July 2025, when she lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Catherine McNally.

Burrage then shared an Instagram story showing a video scroll of abusive direct messages she had received after the match. Her caption read: "Nice welcome back to tour. I remember why I left." BBC Sport reported the post.

Germany's Eva Lys responded by tagging the WTA, the body that runs the women's tour, and asking: "When will something be done?"

Burrage has spoken about this kind of abuse before. After her Wimbledon exit in 2025, she told The Guardian that some of the messages appeared to come from gamblers who had lost money on her matches. At the time, she called on social media companies to ban the trolls responsible.

She is not alone. Katie Boulter, also from Britain, told BBC Sport in 2025 that she had received death threats. A report published earlier this year counted more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages aimed at female tennis players on social media last year.

Burrage's career has had its share of ups and downs. In early 2025 she missed six months because of wrist and ankle injuries. She returned to beat Petra Kvitova in Austin, Texas, with 14 aces, a serve that lands past the opponent without being returned. Later that year she reached the first WTA final of her career, in Nottingham.

Her 2025 season ended with a tough run through the grass-court events. She lost to Amanda Anisimova, the eighth seed, at Queen's Club after leading early, and she beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-3 6-2 in the first round at Eastbourne. Those results are now part of a longer story. Her latest result in Chennai is the one that has put her name back in the headlines, though for reasons far removed from the court.

For now, the match result stands. Burrage lost, Adkar goes through, and the abuse Burrage described has pushed a debate about player safety onto the front pages. Her comments add to a growing list of players who say the threats have followed them off the court.