Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka at centre of ugly tennis furore
A startling new study has revealed that disturbing levels of abuse that some of the biggest names in tennis endure on a daily basis.
A recent study conducted by betting website 'Pickswise' identified the 20 tennis players most abused by fans online, with Naomi Osaka topping the list.
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The study found the Japanese star received 32,415 abusive tweets in the 12-month period from January to December last year.
Osaka reportedly copped the vast majority of the vitriol following her controversial decision not to attend press conferences at the French Open in an attempt to protect her mental health.
She subsequently withdrew from the event after her first-round victory, before also skipping Wimbledon in July.
The four-time grand slam champion played the Tokyo Olympics and US Open before taking a mental health break for the remainder of the year.
Osaka made her return to professional tennis at the Australian Open in January, suffering a shock third-round loss to Amanda Anisimova.
Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu and Novak Djokovic made up the rest of the top five, all receiving over 10,000 abusive tweets.
However the study found that Djokovic received an additional 7354 abusive tweets after the 12-month period ended following his deportation from Australia last month.
With the additional tweets added, Djokovic would be second on the list.
Djokovic was initially granted a visa to enter the country before having it cancelled due to his anti-vaccination stance.
Surprisingly, widely-loved players like Roger Federer (sixth), Rafael Nadal (eighth) and Ash Barty (13th) also made the top 20.
Nick Kyrgios (11th), Daniil Medvedev (12th) and Eugenie Bouchard (14th) were other notable names on the list.
According to some data boffins at Pickswise, @DjokerNole received 8,439 'abusive' tweets across the 2021 year.
Then more than 7,000 alone during the @AustralianOpen Visa dramas.
Naomi Osaka was most trolled tennis player in 2021, with 32,000.
Not cool. Not cool at all.— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) January 31, 2022
Novak Djokovic speaks out after Australia ordeal
Last week Djokovic described his detention and deportation from Australia as an "unfortunate event" and thanked the Serbian president for his support.
The top-ranked tennis star met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday and described the events in Australia as "unexpected, to say the least".
"I wanted to meet with you today because, primarily as a citizen of Serbia, I felt a great need to thank you for great support that you, as the president of Serbia, gave me, as well as all state institutions during the unfortunate events in Australia," Djokovic said.
"Although I was alone in detention, and faced with many problems and challenges, I wasn't feeling lonely.
"I had huge support primarily from my family, all of the close people in my life, entire Serbian nation, many people with good intentions from the region and the world."
The World No.1 did not speak about details of the events in Australia, promising to give his "version" later.
with AAP
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