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Tennis is tough enough without the added pressure to please the fans. Most of the time, that’s fine. But betting on players has become a real problem this season, one that more stars are starting to speak up about. Remember in June when Jessica Pegula called out bettors for sending her threatening messages on social media? Referring to the response to her 2025 French Open loss, she wrote, “These betters are insane and delusional 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.” It was alarming then, and it still is now. Pegula and Madison Keys are pulling back the curtain even further. Earlier this week, Keys and Pegula sat down for a new episode of The Player’s Box Podcast on YouTube, released October 28. The two Americans, ranked World No. 5 and No. 7 in women’s singles, co-host the show alongside Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk. This time, they opened up about a disturbing trend in tennis: the toll of online gambling on players. Pegula didn’t sugarcoat it. She said, “I don’t think any of us really gamble but the people that gamble on our matches, we get to enjoy that fun part of being an athlete I guess I should say.” That “fun part” doesn’t last long once fans cross the line. Keys jumped in with a jaw-dropping story from the United Cup, where she learned someone had tracked down her Venmo account. “I’ll never forget being at United Cup and you guys searching for my Venmo, and I had a fake name because gamblers found me on Venmo and they sent me abusive messages requesting money after I lost,” she said. Hard to believe, but it happened, all over a lost bet. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Keys has been turning heads this season, winning titles at the Australian Open and Adelaide. Yet this ugly fan behavior isn’t new for her. She dealt with the same chaos during her rough 2024 season when she couldn’t reach a single final. So when she talked about those messages, she didn’t hold back. “It was literally like, ‘I lost $5 on you and it was my last $5. I hate you. I hope you die.’ And I’m like, ‘Bro, why are you spending $5 on this? I think you have other problems if it’s your last $5 and you’re betting it on a tennis match.’” Both horrifying and absurd. Sadly, Keys and Pegula aren’t the only ones facing this. Top stars like Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka have also opened up about receiving hate from angry gamblers and fans. After Swiatek’s loss to Emma Navarro in the Round of 16 at the China Open, she shared on Instagram how fans flooded her DMs, calling it a “sad” part of reality. “Nowadays, this is a sad part of our reality in sports. Bots. Betting. But also ‘fans,’” she wrote. Soon after, Sabalenka also expressed the same frustration, saying she too had been hit with “terrible things” on social media. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad It hurts to see players who pour everything into their sport be torn down by faceless comments. Not to mention, Keys has raised this issue before, but her stance took a different route. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports Madison Keys answers the pros and cons of betting in tennis Earlier this year at Indian Wells, the American No. 2 gave a thoughtful take on this issue. She admitted there’s “not a black-and-white answer” to the question of whether it’s right or wrong. Keys simply pointed out that betting brings both positives and negatives, calling it a complicated part of the modern tennis world. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad The reigning Australian Open champion explained it perfectly, noting how the sport profits while players sometimes pay the price. “I don’t think it’s a black-and-white answer, just because I think it depends on who you’re asking. Obviously there’s a lot of partnerships that come from betting,” said the world No. 7. She added that those sponsorships help tournaments make money, and that revenue helps players make a living. “That’s what keeps us having jobs.” But Madison Keys didn’t shy away from the darker side either. “So in that way, I can see where it’s really beneficial as far as the players on the receiving end of a lot of the betters being very angry. I would say it’s obviously not my favorite thing.” She admitted she hates hearing or reading about angry bettors lashing out at players online, calling that behavior completely out of line. Not to mention, it’s one thing for the fans to do it, but players are banned from gambling altogether. The 2025 has already seen a wave of punishments. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed earlier this month that six current and former pros were sanctioned under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP). Just recently, Argentine player Leonardo Aboian was provisionally suspended amid allegations of match-fixing. Now, with Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula speaking up, the question stands: Will tennis finally crack down on these bettors? What’s your take on it? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
