JESSICA PEGULA suffered vile abuse from horrific trolls after losing her French Open match.
Pegula, 31, lost to French wildcard Lois Boisson 3-6 6-4 6-4 on Monday.
Boisson, the story of the tournament, followed up her victory by dumping No6 seed Mirra Andreeva out in the quarter-finals.
That means the tennis world No361 booked a semi-final date with Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff – and guaranteed herself £578,000 in prize money.
But Pegula was subjected to disgusting comments on social media after her shock French Open exit – including one who said they hoped her first-born child died.
The world No3 – daughter of billionaire Buffalo Bills owners Terry Pegula – shared screenshots of her Instagram notifications on her story.
It included a wave of abhorrent messages on a post about the tragic death of her beloved dog Tucker.
After giving a “viewer discretion advised” warning, Pegula posted the comments – many of which were from disgruntled gamblers who lost bets placed on her to win.
One said: “You sold this match on purpose. Can’t wait until Karma spends the block back on you. Hopefully your first-born child will be a still birth.”
Another wrote: “Tucker is better off without this loser.”
A third added: “Somewhere in the world, there is a tree that’s working really hard to produce the oxygen you waste.”
A fourth commented: “Stop playing tennis, brother, you’re making people lose money.”
A sixth typed: “Just quit playing tennis and enjoy your father’s money! You are literally the most useless top-ten player ever.”
And a final user posted a picture of a playing card with the words “you die” written on it.
Pegula called those who send the comments “insane and delusional”.
She added: “And I don’t allow dms and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks but they always find a way to my timeline.
“This stuff has never really bothered me much but does any other sport deal with this to our level?
“I’d love to know because it seems to be predominantly tennis?? It’s so disturbing.
“Every person on tour deals with it. It’s so bad. Those are just really small snippets.
“I get told my family should get cancer and die from people on here on a regular basis. Absolutely crazy.
“I’ve seen stories of comments/threats/stalking making headlines in other sports… well news flash I can guarantee it’s 100 times worse.
“These comments are nonstop for us. Win or lose – it’s whatever they bet on.
“When fans get on us as athletes to be tougher and stronger etc etc. just realize you prob don’t have people sending you death threats every day and hoping your family dies and you give birth to a still-born child.”
Tennis stars following in parents’ footsteps
TALK about pressure…
These rising stars are all making their way in tennis.
But they have got something in common – they’ve got a famous parent who also made their name in the sport.
So who are the players hoping to follow in the footsteps of their tennis mums and dads?
Read the full article here