AI-Powered 'Safe Sport' Initiative Shields Tennis Players from Online Abuse

ATP says Safe Sport program has flagged more than 162,000 abusive online comments to players

LONDON (AP) -- The ATP Tour said Thursday its Safe Sport initiative has flagged more than 162,000 abusive social media comments directed at players in its first year. The tour said more than 3.1 million comments were scanned, with the ones classified as most severe hidden from the 245 players who were targeted. Safe Sport uses real-time AI to detect and hide social media comments from players' accounts. It launched in July 2024 and is available to the top 250 players in singles and the top 50 in doubles. Andrew Azzopardi, the ATP's director of safeguarding, said the initiative has "fundamentally changed how we protect our athletes online." "More than 1 in 10 comments on players' posts were abusive -- rising to 50% in extreme cases," Azzopardi said in a statement. "While it won't eliminate abuse overnight, it's our first line of defense. Safeguarding player well being is a long-term commitment." Safe Sport also supports players facing email threats, impersonation, deepfakes and scams.

ATP flags more than 162,000 posts of 'severe' abuse aimed at male tennis players

The world's leading men's tennis players were shielded from more than 162,000 social media posts containing "severe" abuse in a year under a new system powered by artificial intelligence, according to the ATP. An AI-driven safety tool scanned scanned more than 3.1m messages sent to the world's top 245 male players over a 12-month period and hid the abusive comments in real time. The ATP - which governs men's professional tennis - found through its Safe Sport Initiative that one in 10 comments to the male players contained abuse, while the ratio was as high as 50% on certain players' pages. "Safe Sport creates a healthier online environment, free from hateful comments and negative messages," said Dusan Lajovic, an ATP player advisory council member. The ATP said more than 3,300 comments had been escalated for action to be taken in response since it started the initiative in July 2024 - making it available to the world's top 250 men's singles players and the top 50 in doubles. It identified 68 people who sent abuse - with 28 referrals made to the police. While a significant amount of abuse was discovered, Safe Sport was unable to detect every instant of abuse. Online abuse has been rife within the women's game for a number of years. British number two Katie Boulter shared the scale of the online abuse she suffers on a regular basis with BBC Sport in June. The 29-year-old said the abuse increased around Grand Slams and after defeats. "At the very start of my career, it's probably something I took very personally... getting comments about the way you look," said Boulter. "It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone. "I think it increases in number and it also increases in the level of things that people say. I don't think there's anything off the cards now." Former world number three Elina Svitolina was targeted with death threats following her defeat by Naomi Osaka at the Canadian Open earlier this month.

Program flagging online abuse to tennis players

LONDON -- The ATP Tour said Thursday its Safe Sport initiative has flagged more than 162,000 abusive social media comments directed at players in its first year. The tour said more than 3.1 million comments were scanned, with the ones classified as most severe hidden from the 245 players who were targeted. Safe Sport uses real-time AI to detect and hide social media comments from players' accounts. It launched in July 2024 and is available to the top 250 players in singles and the top 50 in doubles. Andrew Azzopardi, the ATP's director of safeguarding, said the initiative has "fundamentally changed how we protect our athletes online." "More than 1 in 10 comments on players' posts were abusive - rising to 50% in extreme cases," Azzopardi said in a statement. "While it won't eliminate abuse overnight, it's our first line of defense. Safeguarding player well being is a long-term commitment." Safe Sport also supports players facing email threats, impersonation, deepfakes and scams.