A professional tennis player from Hungary has come forward about receiving death threats against her family members unless she agreed to deliberately lose matches during a recent tournament.
Panna Udvardy, currently ranked 95th in the world, disclosed on social media Friday that she was targeted with these intimidating messages while competing in the Antalya Challenger tournament in Turkey. She immediately notified the Women’s Tennis Association about the threats.
The situation became serious enough that her family reached out to Turkish diplomatic officials, and three law enforcement officers provided security by escorting her to her tournament match in Antalya, according to Udvardy’s account.
The 27-year-old athlete revealed disturbing details about the scope of the problem in her social media statement: “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.”
Security measures extended beyond the tournament venue, as Udvardy explained: “Police also went to my parents and grandmother’s homes, and after the match I filed an official police report here in Turkey.”
The Women’s Tennis Association has not yet provided a response to requests for comment regarding the incident or the alleged database security breach.
