Another Women’s Tennis Player Threatened in Pre-Match Blackmail Plot: ‘Either You Lose or It’s Hell’

Hungarian tennis star Panna Udvardy received threats against the lives of her family members prior to a WTA Antalya Challenger event in Turkey on Friday.

Udvardy, ranked No. 95 in the world, shared the news in an Instagram post. She included screenshots of select messages, including one that concluded with “Either you lose or it’s hell.”

Udvardy’s post read in part, “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. 

“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. It was honestly very scary to receive something like this.”

It marked the second such threat against a WTA player just days after Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini received a similar message on WhatsApp before her qualifier match at Indian Wells.

Was the WTA’s Database Breached?

Udvardy, who promptly notified both the WTA and Turkish police, added in her Instagram post, “I was told that similar threats have recently happened to other players and that they believe personal information may have leaked from the WTA database, which is currently being investigated.”

The WTA told players the recent incidents were “not the result of a personal data breach.” But Udvardy noted that she was informed by a WTA supervisor that “there was an investigation into a possible leak of players’ personal data” that likely led to the threats.

“The WTA tried to downplay the situation a little bit. I didn’t see any extra security being placed or any kind of real concern,” Udvardy said.

She concluded her Instagram post with, “I hope the WTA continues investigating this situation seriously and takes stronger steps to protect players’ personal data and safety and to inform players immediately if there is a breach in their system. No player should have to deal with something like this.”

Women’s Tennis Plagued By Online Abuse

Last year, Elina Svitolina received death threats after a straight-sets loss to Naomi Osaka in Montreal. One Instagram user wrote of their hope that Russia “kills all you (expletive) Ukrainians” referring to the war in Svitolina’s homeland.

Svitolina responded on Instagram: “To all the bettors: I’m a mum before I’m an athlete. The way you talk to women — to mothers — is SHAMEFUL. If your mothers saw your messages, they’d be disgusted.”

England’s Katie Boulter revealed that she also endured death threats after her French Open match last year against Carole Monnet. Boulter won the match, but the vitriol started after Boulter lost a first-set tie-break.

“Hope you get cancer,” one message read.

Additionally, Eva Lys was targeted with death threats on numerous occasions last year.

“After every defeat. A thousand times the hate straight into my inbox. Without exception,” she said.

Lys added, “Some are particularly brazen. If a match is close, goes to a third set, and I’m behind, I later find nasty messages that must have been written at that moment. If I then win, the same guy writes that I should forget the previous message, that he’s sorry. He’s now won 5,000 euros.”

The WTA uses Signify Group’s Threat Matrix to help protect approximately 8,300 players and their families from online abuse and threats.

Its initial report analyzed 1.6 million posts and comments during the 2024 WTA season, with 8,000 posts or comments sent from 4,200 accounts deemed abusive, violent, or threatening.