Knowledgeable tennis participant acquired a daunting message from a sports activities bettor who threatened to go after him if he didn’t win a current match on the Thionville Open occasion on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Arthur Bouquier of France, the No. 219-ranked males’s participant on the planet, posted the message on his Instagram, which was initially in French.
After Tennis World translated the message, it revealed a deranged diatribe of how the bettor wanted Bouquier to win a match towards lower-ranked Florian Broska of France. If Bouquier failed to take action, the bettor stated, “I’ll come after you.”
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Lotto Area throughout a match between Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic on the ATP 250 European Open in Antwerp, Belgium, Oct. 18, 2024. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto through Getty Photos)
“French tennis is so mediocre proper now that French gamers persist with taking part in at dwelling to keep away from embarrassment overseas,” the message stated. “Let me remind you that you just don’t obtain a lot while you go away France – it exhibits the boundaries of your tennis sport.
“Anyway, at present you’re taking part in towards Florian Broska, ranked 522, who by no means wins within the first spherical. I simply hope you make an effort to beat him in 2 units as a result of I’ve wager 2000 euros on you to win in 2 units.”
The considered shedding the hefty wager prompted the bettor to threaten Bouquier.
FRENCH TENNIS STAR SHARES HORRIBLE MESSAGES SHE RECEIVED AFTER US OPEN UPSET: ‘THERE’S HUNDREDS’
“I swear, in case you lose, I’ll by no means forgive you,” the message continued with a laughing emoji. “I’ll observe you and your loved ones down simply to harm you, even when it means going to jail. Would possibly as effectively, as a result of if I lose these 2000 euros, I’ll be on the streets, so my life received’t make sense anymore – I’d as effectively spend my days in jail.”
To make issues worse, the bettor claimed to be on the courtroom the place Bouquier was scheduled to play his match towards Broska.
“I swear on my mom’s life that I’ll come for you. Proper now, I’m on the courtroom in Thionville, the place you’re taking part in precisely at 15:20.
“Watch out, and these aren’t empty threats. Good luck.”
A Rio 2016 tennis ball throughout a match between Brian Baker and Yuichi Sugita in males’s singles on the Rio 2016 Summer time Olympic Video games at Olympic Tennis Centre. (Michael Madrid/USA At this time Sports activities)
Bouquier tagged the ATP Tour, Worldwide Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Thionville match in his publish to make them conscious of the threats.
Bouquier received his match in two units, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the second spherical of the match, and there was no incident at Thionville.
Sports activities betting has prompted bettors to succeed in out to athletes through direct message on social media platforms and different strategies to ship threats.
Fellow French tennis star Caroline Garcia shared messages she was getting on the 2024 U.S. Open, saying “there’s lots of” she’d gotten earlier than the match.
“This are a number of the messages I acquired currently after loosing some matches. Just some of them. There’s lots of,” Garcia wrote on her social media platforms on the time, whereas sharing some messages in her X publish she’d been getting. “And now, being 30 years previous, though they nonetheless harm, as a result of on the finish of the day, I’m only a regular woman working actually laborious and attempting my greatest, I’ve instruments and have achieved work to guard myself from this hate. However nonetheless, this isn’t okay.
Tennis balls throughout a Davis Cup World Group I Play-off first-round match between Eire and Austria at UL Sport Area in Limerick. (Brendan Moran/Sportsfile through Getty Photos)
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“Social media platforms don’t forestall it, regardless of AI being in a really superior place. Tournaments and the game maintain partnering with betting corporations, which maintain attracting new folks to unhealthy betting. The times of cigarette manufacturers sponsoring sports activities are lengthy gone. But, right here we’re selling betting corporations, which actively destroy the lifetime of some folks.
“Don’t get me incorrect, I’m not saying they need to be banned as individuals are free to do no matter they need with their cash. However possibly we must always not promote them. Additionally, if somebody determined to say this issues to me in public, he might have authorized points. So why on-line we’re free to do something? Shouldn’t we rethink anonymity on-line?”
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