The tennis world has been hit with a very unfortunate event recently. The Hungarian star Panna Udvardy received serious threats on her personal contact number ahead of her WTA 125 match, which is suspected to be a potential breach of the WTA database. Following this very unfortunate event, Naomi Osaka was asked to share her opinions on sports gambling – and known for her blunt replies, she gave another honest assessment on the topic.
Naomi Osaka’s Views on Sports Gambling Following Recent WTA Data Breach
Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini revealed that she received WhatsApp death threats before her Indian Wells qualifying match, including a photo of a gun and messages warning her to lose, alongside references to her parents and her birthplace.
Following this, Hungarian Udvardy disclosed that she faced a similar ordeal before a WTA 125 event in Antalya, Turkey. An unknown sender contacted her on WhatsApp, threatened violence against her family if she did not lose her match, and claimed to know where her relatives lived, what cars they drove, and how to reach them.
These concerns were brought to the attention of top stars, including Osaka, at the Indian Wells press conference, and Osaka was asked whether she had ever been affected by sports gambling. She did not call for an immediate ban but drew a clear line between the right to place a bet and the abuse that too often follows.
“Probably, but I don’t – like, I just live my life, and whatever happens, it’s whatever, which is either really, like, a positive way of thinking or negative, I don’t know, but that’s just how I deal with it,” she said, before turning to the wider issue. “I think sports gambling, it’s harsh to say it’s terrible, because obviously I’m an athlete, and so I’m living on the other side of it. But I don’t see a positive to it, especially when people don’t treat the athletes as human.”
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Speaking about the huge amount of money involved in sports gambling, Osaka added, “And I get some people, like, bet absurd amount of money, but that’s their responsibility.”
“They shouldn’t be taking it out on the athlete, because I think we care more if we win or lose than the person betting money. So to like threaten someone’s life over it is insane,” she concluded.
Leading names, including Iga Świątek, Coco Gauff, and Mirra Andreeva, have openly spoken about death threats and racist or sexual messages they believe are driven by frustrated bettors, with some saying they now avoid social media altogether during tournaments.
However, players sometimes become involved in these scandals out of desperation, as seen in the most recent case: the suspension of Quentin Folliot. In Dec. 2025, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that the Frenchman had been suspended for 20 years for multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti‑Corruption Program.
The ITIA found that he committed 27 anti‑corruption offenses linked to 11 matches played between 2022 and 2024, eight of which he played himself. As part of the punishment, Folliot was fined $70,000 and ordered to repay more than $44,000 in what the ITIA called “corrupt payments.”
Osaka Opens Her Indian Wells Campaign Dominantly
The Japanese received a bye in the Round of 128 as the 16th seed and played her first match in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday, March 6. She faced Andorran star Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva on Court 2 in her first match and made her intentions clear as she delivered another dominant victory.
Osaka’s serving throughout the match was efficient, committing zero double faults while firing four bullet-like aces. She landed 61% of her first serves, winning 71% of those points, while managing to win nearly 60% of her second serve points. This gave her a huge advantage over her opponent, who committed two double faults and, while landing more of her first serves, won fewer points on those.
In the first set, Osaka broke her opponent twice to take a formidable 5-1 lead before Jiménez Kasintseva fought back and gave her a tough challenge by breaking her twice and leveling the set at 5-5. The Japanese then broke her opponent immediately to take the set 7-5.
The second set was much more straightforward, with both players holding serve until the fourth game of the match. Then, in the fifth and seventh games, Osaka broke her opponent, winning five consecutive points to take the set 6-2 and the match 7-5, 6-2.
With this win, Osaka reached the third round at Indian Wells and will be facing the Colombian star Camila Osorio on Saturday, March 7. According to PFSN’s exclusive interactive simulator, she has a 69% chance of overcoming her opponent and reaching the fourth round, where she could potentially face World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
