"I am a mother before I am an athlete," Svitolina shares hate messages received after her loss in Montreal
Elina Svitolina's run in Montreal came to an end in the quarterfinals. After straight-set victories against Rakhimova, Kalinskaya, and Anisimova, the Ukrainian suffered a heavy defeat to Naomi Osaka (6-2, 6-2), missing out on her third semifinal of the season on the WTA tour.
Ranked 13th in the world, the 30-year-old remains one of the tour's most reliable players and is still in the top 10 of the Race. After her elimination, Svitolina was shocked to receive a flood of abusive messages on her Instagram account.
Bettors, clearly frustrated by the result, openly targeted her, but that wasn’t all. Particularly violent messages concerning her family, especially her husband Gaël Monfils, were also visible. Svitolina took a stand by sharing a selection of the hateful messages.
"To all the bettors: I am a mother before I am an athlete. The way you speak to women, and to mothers, is shameful. If your mothers saw your messages, they would be disgusted," wrote the former world No. 3 in an Instagram story.
Among the messages she received were comments such as: "I hope you die today," "Corrupt w***e," "I hope Russia kills all these damn Ukrainians," "Kill yourself," "Gaël Monfils f***ed other girls, I hope you tear your ACLs," and "Retire and disappear with your useless monkey husband."
The situation also drew a reaction from Nick Kyrgios. The Australian, who is friends with Gaël Monfils and recently partnered with him in doubles at the Washington tournament, simply posted "Disgusting" on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
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