Estonian tennis player Mark Lajal reports death threats after loss in Spain — ERR News
Estonian tennis player Mark Lajal said that after losing in the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 75 tournament in Manacor, Spain, he received abusive messages and death threats. Some of the messages were sent to his personal phone number, he said, ERR News reports.
Threats after the match
The 23-year-old Lajal published screenshots of English-language messages whose authors threatened him and members of his family. According to the tennis player, most of the messages came from people who had placed sports bets and lost money because of the match result.
Lajal noted that he does not usually speak publicly about such incidents, but this time, in his view, the situation went too far. He said that someone obtained his phone number and called and sent threatening messages. The athlete also said that the insults and threats were directed not only at him but also at his family.
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Performance in Mallorca
The tournament was held at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca. Lajal, who is ranked 152nd in the world, came through qualifying and defeated Norwegian player of Estonian descent Nikolai Budkov Kjaer 6:3, 6:1. In the quarterfinals, he beat Spaniard Alejo Sanchez Quilez 6:2, 6:3.
In the semifinals, the Estonian lost to Frenchman Felix Balshaw. The match lasted two hours and ten minutes, and Lajal led 4:1 at the start of the second set. In his post, the tennis player also questioned ATP's cooperation with betting platforms and stressed that gambling addiction is a real problem.
