The ATP has "set up a partnership" with London-based risk assessment and management company Theseus to help tennis players better handle online harassment, and the WTA is "close to finalizing a deal" with the company as well, according to Howard Fendrich of the AP. Now players can alert Theseus to "troubling messages and be told whether the item simply can be ignored or is serious enough to warrant alerting law enforcement." Neither the ATP nor Theseus would "disclose how many tennis players have taken advantage of the new relationship or how often police or other authorities have been contacted." ATP Dir of PR & Marketing Simon Higson in an email wrote, "It is important that our players are able to understand what they are receiving, why, how to respond and what actions they are advised to take." WTA Senior Dir for Athlete Assistance Kathy Martin said, "It's a societal issue, so of course we're going to see it in our demographic. It's obviously very distressing players are getting messages like that. We take it seriously." While online harassment "does happen to other athletes," Madison Keys and others "surmised that tennis players might be prone to such bullying because theirs is a largely individual sport, so a result can be squarely pegged to one person." Another factor is "gambling's prominence." Tennis player John Millman said the harassment "all stems from betting." Fellow player Peter Polansky added, "It's guys who bet money on you and lost." Keys said, "If we continue to ignore it, then it's going to continue to happen" (AP, 7/3).
