Wimbledon reveal social media monitoring service to help players deal with online harassment... With AI driven technology helping flag abusive comments to security team and protect stars

Wimbledon have launched a crackdown on abuse of players online by launching a dedicated social media monitoring service at the championships for the first time.

British No 2 Harriet Dart spoke after her win over British No 1 Katie Boulter about the pitfalls of social media.

Organisers are well aware of the strains placed on players with the volume of targeted abuse online and are using Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as a dedicated monitoring team to tackle the problem.

'This year actually is the first year we have effectively got a social media monitoring service, specifically for the event,' tournament organiser Jamie Baker said. 

'This isn't something you'll see in the public domain at all, you won't see us shout about it, but effectively we are scrolling social media for any of this type of [abusive] content. 

'It means that we can get information that we haven't had in the past and we are not just relying on what the player might be saying is happening to them. If there is something of concern that's when our security teams can basically kick in and help to do something about it.'

The French Open have previously had their own monitoring service for abuse directed at players online and Wimbledon have no followed suit.

There are different levels of monitoring available to players, with an option to opt-in to what has been described as a more comprehensive service. 

'There's two parts to it and it depends how far they want to go with the service,' Baker said. 

'Without getting into the details… if they want the full service there is an element of opt-in, but actually we have the ability through this to genuinely scan and pick up some info which could help them. 

'The basis of it is is that if we have anything that we feel is of concern or worth flagging it's engaging with the player and then dealing with the next steps of that. 

'The benefit of having it is we do have the ability to do some kind of official registering with the right people there. 

'We wouldn't actually be taking those steps without engaging with the player or their team in terms of trying to get a feel for what's going on.'

Baker added: 'We are not stepping in and becoming the police but it's important to try to help [players].'