Nikolas Sanchez’s life was threatened just hours before his match (Image: Getty)
A professional tennis player on the ATP Tour was recently told his family would be kidnapped and he would be killed if he didn’t lose one of his matches on purpose. Nikolas Sanchez was in action at the ATP Challenger in Rosario, Argentina, earlier this month.
But ahead of his round-of-16 match against his Argentine opponent, the 26-year-old from Barcelona received a death threat from gamblers urging him to throw the game. Having initially thought it was a joke, the severity of the threats soon worried him as the culprits had his family’s details and address. Sanchez showed the messages to his coach, who reported the incident to the relevant authorities. He was then taken to the players’ room, where he was kept in isolation for three hours. Incredibly, the world No. 275 returned to the court to play his match behind closed doors under maximum security, losing out 7-5 6-4.
Recalling the horrific experience in an interview with Punto de Break, Sanchez said: “An hour and forty minutes before the match, at 3.18pm, I received a message asking me if I was Nikolas. It was from an unknown number. I said yes and three minutes later, they wrote again.
“They told me they had located my family and wrote me their full names, both my parents’ and my brother’s. They wrote me the exact family address: street, building, floor and door. They invited me to secretly lose the match I was going to play but warned me not to say anything, otherwise my family would be kidnapped and I would suffer serious consequences.
“How did they get my phone number? This has never happened to me before, which is what’s worrying, that they also knew my ID number. They tell me that if I don’t comply with their demands, I won’t get out of there alive.
“I look around and search for someone who is laughing, thinking it’s a joke. The second thing I do is look for someone I don’t know in the area, mainly because I fear something serious will happen to me if I don’t follow the instructions. Within a few minutes, I rule out that it’s a joke… basically because, if it weren’t and then what they say actually happened, I could never forgive myself. My family suffering because of a tennis match? This cannot happen under any circumstances.”
Sanchez received a text telling him to lose his next match (Image: Getty)
Sanchez admitted he thought about not going out on court as he only wanted to get back to his family in Spain. But he couldn’t get the match postponed after trying to delay it as long as possible and ended up playing, as he couldn’t afford to miss out on the points and prize money.Â
He added: “I was contacting my family to make sure they were okay but without conveying the fear I felt inside, as there was no point in calling them in tears. I tried to locate them first, call them home and ask them not to go out for a walk or anything like that. With no experience in such a situation, we all did the best we could. The tournament director was incredible, providing me with maximum security at all times. Those were moments of anguish and great fear.
“Could there be someone in the doorway of my building? My brother is coming back from the gym. Could there be someone following him? The match is no longer a priority; I’m even considering not playing. At this time of year, all players tend to receive horrible messages. In the end, you put up with everything that comes your way until one day this happens. My intention now is to draw a line of zero tolerance, hire a solicitor and spend money on these resources, and react immediately to the first message. They must pay for what they have done; I see no other solution.”
He ended the match in tears, having been overcome with emotion in a match where his tennis skills were clearly affected by a lack of focus. Sanchez flew home the following morning and is back in action in Argentina this week at Challenger de Tigre II. He added that he will look to change his phone number but conceded he doesn’t have the funds to move homes, with the authorities still trying to track down the culprit.