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A women\u2019s tennis player<\/a> has criticized the WTA Tour<\/a>\u2019s response to threats of violence sent to her personal phone. Panna Udvardy, the world No. 95, is the second WTA Tour player to discuss such threats in the past week, which the tour has told players are not the result of a personal data breach.<\/p>\n Udvardy, 27, received a message from a phone number with a United Kingdom country code, instructing her to lose a match at a tournament one rung below the main tour.<\/p>\n The message, sent ahead of her meeting with Ukraine\u2019s Anhelina Kalinina in Antalya, Turkey, included a threat to kidnap her mother, as well as saying that the person responsible for the message had details of where her parents and grandmother live.<\/p>\n The message was accompanied by photos of Udvardy\u2019s family, as well as a photo of a hand gun and the threat that \u201cwe have two groups near Hungary ready for war if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt midnight I\u2019m panicking, I\u2019m alone in the hotel. I was really scared, so I forwarded these messages to my parents,\u201d Udvardy said via voice message.<\/p>\n \u201cI forwarded it also to the supervisor and the WTA player relations team. I wrote an email to the social media team at the WTA. I could not sleep for two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Udvardy said that when she went to the WTA tournament supervisor\u2019s office, she was told that she was not the first player to receive these kinds of messages.<\/p>\n She said that the supervisor told her that there was an investigation into a possible leak of players\u2019 personal data, which, the supervisor said, explained the recent prevalence of messages sent to players\u2019 personal phones.<\/p>\n \u201cThe WTA tried to downplay the situation a little bit. I didn\u2019t see any extra security being placed or any kind of real concern,\u201d Udvardy said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe supervisor told me, \u2018Oh, it happened to other players, so don\u2019t worry.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cOK, but I am worried \u2014 it\u2019s my phone number, my personal data, who knows what else they have?\u201d<\/p>\n Udvardy said that the tour\u2019s safeguarding team had also told her that the gun photo was an old one, which implied that the person sending the message did not actually a possess a firearm.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how that\u2019s better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A source briefed on the Antalya tournament\u2019s operations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that the supervisor\u2019s comment to Udvardy did not constitute an official statement and was made off the cuff.<\/p>\n In an email sent to players following Udvardy\u2019s reporting of the threats against her which has been reviewed by The Athletic<\/em>, the organization said that there had not been an official WTA data breach, and said that the FBI is contributing to an investigation into the provenance of the threatening messages.<\/p>\n It also instructed players to immediately contact the tour\u2019s safeguarding team in the event of receiving threatening messages, whether on personal phones or social media.<\/p>\n The FBI has previously been involved in investigations of threatening messages. In a 2024 season-wide report into abuse of players commissioned by the WTA Tour and World Tennis, 15 cases were reported to law enforcement, and three of them to the FBI.<\/p>\n The tour uses Signify Group\u2019s Threat Matrix service, which is designed to help protect players on social media by detecting and filtering out abusive messages through a combination of AI and human analysts.<\/p>\n Italian women\u2019s player Lucrezia Stefanini said that she received similar threats, including a photo of a gun, ahead of a first-round loss in qualifying for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Multiple ATP Tour players have also said that they have received direct threats in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI immediately alerted the WTA, which provided me with more security \u2026 The entire tournament mobilized to make me feel safe,\u201d Stefanini said in a video message posted to social media.<\/p>\n Udvardy ultimately lost her match, in two tight sets, saying that she was proud of herself for creating chances to win during such a stressful situation. After it, she said, \u201cthe supervisor, the tournament director, and three police officers came up to me.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said that the Hungarian consulate sent them, because my parents wrote an email to the Hungarian embassy informing them about this, and they wanted to make sure everyone was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey sent out people to watch my match and to watch me \u2026 They also offered me a security person at all times while I\u2019m still here in Antalya.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n