Tennis star Panna Udvardy reveals chilling threat to lose Megasaray Hotels Open match as police rush to protect family

A frightening situation unfolded around Hungarian tennis player Panna Udvardy just before one of her matches in Turkey. The 27 year old said she received disturbing messages on her phone shortly before competing at the Megasaray Hotels Open in Antalya. According to Udvardy, the sender warned her to lose the match or her family members could be harmed. The messages came late at night through WhatsApp from an unknown number.

Udvardy later shared the experience publicly on Instagram on March 6. She posted screenshots of the messages and explained what happened. The tennis player said the person sending the messages appeared to know personal details about her family, including where they live and what cars they drive. The situation quickly became serious enough that police were sent both to her match and to her family’s homes.

Panna Udvardy reveals disturbing threats sent before Megasaray Hotels Open match as police step in for safety

In her Instagram post, Panna Udvardy explained that the messages arrived around midnight on her personal phone. She said the sender demanded that she lose her upcoming match.

Udvardy wrote, “Several very disturbing messages were sent to me from an unknown number on my personal phone. The sender told me that if I didn’t lose my match today, they would harm members of my family.”

What made the situation even more frightening was the level of detail the person shared. According to Udvardy, the sender claimed to know where her relatives lived and even sent images.

She wrote, “They told me 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.”

After receiving the threats, Udvardy immediately contacted officials. She said she informed the tournament supervisor from the Women’s Tennis Association and also told her parents. Udvardy explained, “I immediately contacted the WTA supervisor, sent the screenshots, and informed my parents.”

Her parents then contacted their country’s consulate for help. Authorities reacted quickly. Udvardy said three police officers were sent to the match venue for safety. Police also visited the homes of her parents and grandmother to make sure they were safe. Udvardy later confirmed she filed an official police report in Turkey after the match.

She also shared that officials told her similar threats have recently been reported by other players. According to Udvardy, there is concern that private information may have leaked from a database, and the situation is being investigated.

Despite the stress, Udvardy still went on court and played her match. She eventually lost 7–6 (7–3), 7–5 to Anhelina Kalinina. After the match, Udvardy said the experience made it extremely hard to focus.

She wrote, “Leaving Antalya feeling sad and disappointed. I never imagined something like this could happen, and the last few days have been stressful, making it very difficult to focus on what I came here to do which is to play tennis.”

Udvardy also made it clear that this type of abuse should never become normal in sports. She added, “No player should ever have to go through something like this. I truly hope steps will be taken so situations like this don’t happen again and that things will be safer for everyone in our sport.”