Hannah Dal Sasso has opened up about the sickening abuse she used to face while she was dating tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Speaking to her Deadly Serious podcast with her close friend Costeen Hatzi, Hannah revealed how she received death threats from gamblers and stalkers.
The sickening abuse didn’t just stop at being directed at Thanasi’s ex-girlfriend as they even targeted her family.
One incident involved a stalker sending Hannah a screenshot of her cousin’s location with a threat to kill them if she didn’t break up with the tennis star.
On another occasion, Hannah admitted she was terrified to leave the hotel she was staying in after she received a death threat from someone claiming they were already on the premises.
Costeen also opened up, explaining that she had been a victim of similar attacks on social media.
Hannah Dal Sasso opened up about the sickening abuse she faced while dating tennis star Thanai Kokkinakis, including death threats to her family from gamblers and stalkers
Costeen Hatzi also revealed that she had received similar abuse while dating Nick Kyrgios
Dal Sasso attended the Australian Open this year despite splitting from her tennis star ex-boyfriend
The pair were discussing their experiences as former partners of tennis players during the Australian Open.
And Hannah opened up about the sickening threats while she was dating Thanasi Kokkinakis, ‘I used to cop a lot of betting hate,’ she said.
‘People that were bettors would send me and my family death threats which was kind of crazy.’
‘And stalkers, people that are obsessed that were crazy fans. They were nuts.’
‘I had a girl message me my little cousin’s gymnastics location, saying “if you don’t break up with him, I’m going to kill her”.’
‘They sent me a screenshot of her location.’
‘I used to receive death threats daily. My friend’s family, if they had any involvement with me (on social media) they would receive paragraphs and paragraphs of capital letter death threats.’
‘It was at a tournament in Adelaide. She sent him a message saying “I’m here” and I was like ‘I’m not leaving the hotel room, this is the end, I’m going to get killed.’
She was not alone in receiving the sickening messages, as her guest also revealed some of the abuse she received.
‘I’d get loads of hate comments about me, about him, the way he plays tennis, but I’d just ignore it,’ Costeen said.
‘You can’t take it personally, I just ignore it. It has settled down now that I’m not with my ex-partner now.’
The two explained their experiences as they discussed the stabbing of Monica Seles in 1993.
And the safety for women in and around tennis remains a serious issue, highlighted when Emma Raducanu was reduced to tears last February.
During a match at the Dubai Open, the former US Open champion spotted a man who previously ‘exhibited fixated behaviour’ towards her sitting in the stands.
Raducanu then appeared to hide behind the umpire’s chair as her discomfort became increasingly evident in the unsettling scenes.
That same man had trailed the tennis star across four different countries and was caught trying to purchase Wimbledon tickets despite receiving a restraining order in Dubai.
