In the final part of a series on the realities of professional tennis, Charlie Eccleshare examines the impact of gambling and spiralling social media abuse.

The then world No 100 Richel Hogenkamp was struggling with the disappointment of a narrow defeat to Ana Konjuh at the 's-Hertogenbosch tournament in her native Holland last June. She logged on to Instagram to catch up with her messages.

One jumped out at her. It read: “I hope everyone in your family will die from brain cancer. I hope someone will kill you with 2 bullets! I lost $1500 because of you f****** bitch. U had everything you f****** machine for UE [unforced errors]. If I ever find you I will break your lrgs (sic) f****** ugly s***. You are the ugliest person I ever saw! F****** ugly fat scum.”

Shocking? Sickening? What is remarkable about Hogenkamp's story is that it is remarkably unremarkable.

Welcome to a constant reality for professional tennis players, with the proliferation of in-game betting now a lightning rod for social media abuse from, in the main, disgruntled gamblers.

Of the 20 players that Telegraph Sport spoke to about the issue of social media abuse, all agreed that after every defeat they are subjected to abuse, almost always including at least one death threat. And the main reason? Busted bets.