Tennis players receive threatening messages, including photos of a gun, demanding they lose matches

Two women’s tennis players were sent threatening messages, each receiving a photo of a gun and being ordered to lose 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 disturbing messages on WhatsApp from an unknown number on my personal phone. The person told me that if I didn’t lose my match today, they would harm members of my family,” Udvardy posted on Instagram, along with screenshots of the messages, regarding her match against Anhelina Kalinina at the Megasaray Hotels Open, which she lost in two sets.

“They said they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers. They even sent photos of my family members and a picture of a gun.”

The message Udvardy received said the culprit or culprits “know everything about your family and you” and were “ready for war if necessary, and we won’t hesitate to send them to your mother’s house 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 three additional police officers were sent to her match “which I’m extremely grateful for.” Police also went to her parents and grandmother’s homes, she added.

The message Stefanini received was eerily similar.

“I received a WhatsApp message in which I was threatened over winning 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 an Instagram post of her own. 

Stefanini, too, told the WTA about the situation, and she also received boosted security.

“I’m making this video and explaining what happened because I don’t think it’s right to put me under this pressure and unease before a match,” Stefanini said.

Udvardy said the messages are “not normal.”

“Even as athletes or public figures, it’s not acceptable to receive threats against our families, especially not on our private phone numbers and alongside disturbing images. We should not normalize abuse like this in sport.”

Stefanini lost her Indian Wells qualifying match in three sets.

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