Nicole Gibbs has received bad threats on the social networks after her retirement from qualifying for the main field of the Premier Mandatory tournament in Miami. The World Rankings-117. published the insults.
Nicole Gibbs was disappointed. Of course, the American had missed the main draw in Miami on Wednesday by beating Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-7 (3-7), 4-6 in the final qualifying round. But what followed was even more painful for the 25-year-old from Santa Monica. Gibbs was abused about her Instagram account – there was even a death threat.
The 25-year-old went on the offensive like several other colleagues before. Gibbs posted some of the abuse on her Twitter account. One user posed as “gibbsdie12” and wrote: “I hope you die with your family” and the player’s dog, Jimmy, was always at the centre of the threats.
Bullying and cyberbullying are unfortunately not uncommon in professional sport. Especially in tennis, because there is a lot of betting – and therefore a lot of money is lost. Earlier this year, Daria Gavrilova was forced to re-register her social media accounts after her surprising second-round defeat at the Australian Open. I had to do this because I didn’t want my family to see all the hatred that some people have,” Gavrilova said back then.
Her compatriot Sam Stosur, US Open winner in 2011, has also been the victim of such verbal attacks: “I believe they are people who have bet and lost on your matches. I’m convinced that many people simply don’t know what effect such threats can have,” Stosur recently explained and said: “Would they tell you right to your face – probably not.
Madison Keys can sing a lament, too. Last year’s New York finalist received death threats after her semi-final finish at the tournament in Beijing in 2016. At the event in Charleston in the months before, Keys had already shared some insults on Twitter that she had heard after her opening K.o. If we all keep our mouths shut and don’t talk about it, it won’t get any better,” the daughter of two lawyers explained back then.
Since then, Keys has been fighting cyberbullying. As ambassador of “FearlesslyGirl”, she wants to encourage girls and young women to defend themselves against bullying, an organisation that is different from many others. It is designed to create strong women,” explained the World Rankings-14. and said, “I have a unique opportunity here to help, inspire and be a kind of big sister to an entire generation of girls.”