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Two female tennis players received threatening messages, each receiving a photo of a gun and being ordered to lose their matches.
Panna Udvardy and Lucrezia Stefanini detailed the disturbing messages in which they and their families were threatened.
“Last night, around midnight, I received several very worrying messages on WhatsApp on my home phone from an unknown number. The person told me that if I don’t lose my match today, she will harm my family members,” Udvardy posted on Instagram, along with screenshots of the messages, about her match against Anhelina Kalinina at the Megasaray Hotels Open, which she lost in straight sets.
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Lucrezia Stefanini and Panna Udvardy both received threatening messages ordering them to lose recent tennis matches. (Flaviu Buboi, Robert Prange via Getty Images)
“They said they knew where my family lived, what cars they drove and had their phone numbers. They even sent pictures of my family members and a picture of a gun.”
The message Udvardy received said that the culprit(s) “knew everything about you and your family” and were “ready for war if necessary, and we will not hesitate to send them to your mother to kidnap her until she returns the money we would lose because of your disobedience.”
Udvardy said she contacted the Women’s Tennis Association and had three additional police officers sent to her match “which I am extremely grateful for”. Police also went to the home of her parents and grandmother, she added.
Panna Udvardy of Hungary in action against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during the first round of the women’s singles on the second day of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 27, 2024, in Paris, France. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)
The message Stefanini received was eerily similar.
“I received a WhatsApp message in which I was threatened to win yesterday’s match. They threatened me and my family and named my parents, the place where I was born, and they sent me a photo of a gun,” Stefanini said in his own Instagram post.
Stefanini also informed the WTA of the situation and she was also provided with increased security.
“I’m making this video and explaining what happened because I don’t think it’s right to put myself under this pressure and discomfort before a match,” Stefanini said.
Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy in action during the first day of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2024 on January 28, 2024, in Linz, Austria. (Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images for MatchMaker)
Udvardy said the messages are “not normal.”
“Even as athletes or public figures, it is not acceptable to receive threats against our families, especially not on our private phone numbers and alongside disturbing images. We should not normalize such abuse in sport.”
Stefanini lost his qualifying match at Indian Wells in three sets.
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