Hungary’s Panna Udvardy says she was sent “disturbing” messages, including a picture of a gun, warning her family would be harmed unless she lost a tennis match.
Udvardy, ranked 95th in the world, said she received the WhatsApp messages on her personal phone from an unknown number on Thursday night, along with images of her family members and claims “they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers”.
The 27-year-old said the consulate in Turkey sent three police officers for her quarter-final match at WTA 125 in Antalya on Friday, while police also protected her parents’ and grandmother’s homes.
Udvardy, seeded second at the tournament, lost the match 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Udvardy claimed she had been told similar threats have been made against other players.
It comes days after Italian tennis player Lucrezia Stefanini said she received threats before a qualifying match for Indian Wells.
It is understood the WTA are aware of several players who have been affected and are investigating how personal information of players had been obtained, as the source is not yet known.
“The person told me that if I didn’t lose my match today, they would harm members of my family. They said they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers,” Udvardy wrote on Instagram.
“They even sent photos of my family members and a picture of a gun.
“It was honestly very scary to receive something like this.”
Udvardy said she has filed a police report in Turkey.
“I want to say something clearly: this is not normal,” she added.
“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 normalise abuse like this in sport.
“No player should have to deal with something like this.”
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