Having a difficult three-set loss in the hot and humid conditions at the China Open would make any player need a shower, and Maria Timofeeva did the same. However, when the 22-year-old came out, the loss on court was not the only bad news of the day for her. She noticed that her watch had been stolen from the locker room, leaving her understandably upset, especially since this is not the first time such an incident has happened to the Uzbek player.
“Getting my watch stolen from the locker room at a 1000 event wasn’t on my bingo card this year, but at this point, I’m accepting my fate of being a victim of all kinds of thefts as my part-time hobby,” said Timofeeva on her Instagram story. “Another lesson to not leave your tennis bag outside of a locker even for 10 mins while you take a shower. @chinaopen definitely not how I wanted to end my day yesterday after losing a three-set match.”
This is not the first time that Timofeeva has been affected by a theft. During her stay in Paris for the French Open this year, the World No. 68 had her entire bag stolen, which contained valuable items such as her passport and phone. The 22-year-old had taken a harsh view of security at such a high-profile event in one of the world’s most prominent cities, which was quite understandable from her perspective.
However, if one looks slightly further, this is not the first string of bad luck to befall Timofeeva. At the 2024 Madrid Open, she was the victim of fraud when unknown individuals gained access to her bank account. Despite having her debit card with her at all times, Timofeeva stated that over $10,000 was taken from her personal account.
What’s even more depressing for Timofeeva is that these thefts have more often than not occurred after a loss on the court. At the French Open, her bag was stolen after she lost her qualifying match to Maria Lourdes Carle. Even in Beijing, she went toe-to-toe with former World No.1 Naomi Osaka, losing in three tough sets.
The incident at the China Open will have no doubt dampened the mood for Timofeeva, who was on a high due to her on-court results. The 22-year-old entered Beijing on the back of having won a Challenger event in Porto, her third title on the Challenger Tour this season, with prior wins in Istanbul and Makarska. Earlier in the year, Timofeeva had also won an ITF title at the Chiasso Open in Switzerland.
While many would sympathize with Timofeeva’s unlucky streak of being robbed, this is not the first time a tennis player has been robbed in recent times.
Tennis Players Have Been Targets of Robberies in the Past
Tennis players often have lucrative brand deals with watch companies, often sporting high-end luxury watches both on and off the court. That was the case with Grigor Dimitrov back in 2023, when the Bulgarian had his expensive Swiss Bianchet watch snatched off his wrist while he was in the car in Barcelona to play at the ATP 500 event.
Even hotel rooms have proven to be a not-so-difficult challenge for thieves, even if the room is of a high-profile player like Rafael Nadal. Back at the 2012 French Open, the Spaniard won his seventh title on Parisian clay, but that did not deter thieves from entering his hotel room and stealing his Richard Mille watch, which the brand had given him to wear during his run at Roland Garros.
Tennis players have also been victims of more aggressive situations. A Richard Mille watch was at the center of it all once again as American pro Sebastian Korda was robbed in 2024. During his stay in Monte Carlo for the Masters 1000 event, the former World No. 15 was held up by unknown individuals on a scooter, and his watch, worth over $300,000, was taken.
While none of the players in question sustained any physical injuries in any of the incidents, one cannot deny the psychological impact of such incidents, given that they are already under so much pressure on the court.