Wimbledon 2018: Support is there for any players suffering abuse, says Caroline Wozniacki
Judy Murray this week urged women's tour players to speak out if they have been exploited, highlighting player-coach relationships as one area of potential concern
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Your support makes all the difference.Wimbledon stars Caroline Wozniacki and Madison Keys believe any players suffering in silence would find support if they came forward to report abuse.
Judy Murray this week urged women’s tour players to speak out if they have been exploited, highlighting player-coach relationships as one area of potential concern.
Former Great Britain Fed Cup captain Murray, who is also the mother of former Wimbledon winners Andy and Jamie Murray, said high-profile players should make their voices heard if they are aware of others suffering.
Wozniacki, the Wimbledon second seed and reigning Australian Open champion, said she was unaware of any problems.
But the Dane is confident the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour has the infrastructure in place to allow players to report concerns in confidence.
She said: “We have a lot of help within the tour of people that you can talk to and psychologists and so on. We have people that you can go and speak to behind closed doors and nobody else knows about it. I think if anyone has any issues, they all know they have that opportunity.
“Personally, I haven’t heard of any instances, but I think we’re in this age and this point where, of course, if something is going on, I think if people are willing to talk about it, it can help other people.
“I personally haven’t experienced it. There is help to get it on tour if you need it, which I think is the main thing.”
And American player Keys, seeded 10th at Wimbledon, said tennis would benefit from being a part of the #MeToo movement.
Abusers have been called out across a wide spectrum of society, and Keys said: “Honestly, I feel like just the world that we live in we could use a little bit of #MeToo in every aspect of everything.
“I think the biggest thing is just the awareness that it’s happening a lot and it’s happening everywhere, and just because you’re in sports or in politics or an actress, it happens across the board. It happens to a lot of people.
“I think the biggest thing is just having the conversation and listening and talking to each other. I hope that people would feel comfortable coming forward and talking about it and I think a lot of people would be very supportive of them.
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