US Open: death threats against the linesman

After the disqualification of Novak Djokovic at the US Open the waves on the Internet rose. The world’s number one had to call some “fans” to order.

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At some point during the night from Monday to Tuesday, Novak Djokovic had enough. If the disqualified US Open favorite became aware of the online excesses of his “fans” himself or if one of his advisers pointed it out to him, the 33-year-old Serbian jumped to the side of the woman, who he played completely innocently. the supporting role in Djokovics. The Grand Slam disaster played. The US Open line judge, struck and affected by Djokovic’s transcendental outburst of anger, deserves “our joint support,” wrote Djokovic on the “Instagram” platform, “he did nothing wrong.”

Considerable damage had already been done to social media once again, yet the internet had shown nothing less than its ugly grin in the Djokovic case. Because in the hours after Djokovic’s exclusion from the Grand Slam games in New York, a strange and dangerous outburst of anger had gripped linesman Laura C of Owensboro, Kentucky. After her Instagram account was apparently revealed by the Serbian media, there was a riot of abuse, insults and profanity. There was also a death threat that she would soon follow her son, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2008, she said. The seasoned linesman, who has been involved in major tennis tournaments for many years, was also flogged as an alcohol addict.

Conspiracy theories among Djokovic supporters

What almost, of course, could not be missing were conspiracy theories: Laura C. had acted in the spirit of Djokovic’s absent rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, her injury only pretending that she was “ready for Hollywood after his career on center court. The linesman, wrote “news.com.au”, has apparently become “public enemy number one” in Serbia. C. took a break from her duties at the US Open on Monday and recovered at a New York hotel. Grand Slam officials said she was “under observation by tournament doctors.” At the same time, it was said that he wanted to return to the Grand Slam as soon as possible. In a tweet, professional gamer Andrea Petkovic pointed out another aspect of the matter: “When women are victims, they are often accused of having forged or exaggerated. There is also a lot of misogyny here. “

Hostility towards the American linesman is anything but unusual for the tennis industry. Because especially recently, the anonymous threat scenario of the virtual world has intensified for many professionals. Players are often behind the troll culture, players are showered with curses after unexpected defeats. Kevin Anderson, a former Wimbledon finalist from South Africa, reported receiving “dozens of death threats” after a first-round loss at the All England Club. Australian Sam Groth reported that he not only regularly received “niceties like wanting to kill me”, but also from his girlfriend or the rest of the family. Dustin Brown, the German Davis Cup player, also has to deal with racist comments on a regular basis.

Cyber ​​terror has been a problem for years

Canada’s longtime tennis hopeful Rebecca Morino even gave up her career because she “couldn’t stand up to cyber terror.” This summer, the London-based company “SportRadar” revealed that it was the last time in two show tournaments in Germany and the US 70 messages relevant to the players. SportRadar also introduced new technology that could be used to reveal the identity of trolls.

In Djokovic’s case, however, the tabloid media had warmed up the spirits in his home country and incited the “followers” of player number 1. Djokovic was “the victim of unprecedented injustice,” it said in the “Blic.” . The newspaper “Informer” wrote: “Djokovic robbed brutally. A terrible injustice. “