Russian tennis player Maria Timofeeva has revealed on social media that she was left ‘freaking out’ after she had €10,000 (£8,576) stolen from her bank account while in Madrid.
The 20-year-old, who sits No 99 in the WTA’s world rankings, had been attempting to qualify for the WTA1000 Mutua Madrid Open this week. In her opening match, she had claimed a two-set victory against Fiona Ferro, but was eliminated by British star Harriet Dart in the second round.
Timofeeva, who claimed her first singles title on the WTA Tour in Budapest last year, revealed her confusion as to how the money had been stolen, admitting that her debit card had ‘been with her for most of her time in the Spanish capital.’ She also claimed that this was not the first time she had been robbed while in Spain.
‘Hello everyone it’s Maria Timofeeva. And here I am back in Spain six months later and I’ve been robbed again here,’ the tennis player said in a video posted on her Instagram story on Thursday evening.
‘So, I would like to share my story and could really use some advice from people who might have been in a similar situation before or how it could happen.
‘So apparently in the past few days [while] I’m here in Madrid someone has been spending money from my bank account and spent nearly a little more than €10,000 (£8,576).
‘I’m freaking out because I don’t know how it could happen because physically my card was with me most of the time – except for one episode when I left it in my room while the room was being cleaned by the maids of the hotel I’m staying in.’
Maria Timofeeva has revealed €10,000 have been stolen from her bank account
Timofeeva posted a video on her Instagram story, asking for advice from her followers
The Russian tennis player currently sits 99 in the WTA rankings and won her first title last year
Timofeeva then elaborated that the money had been spent in the area close to where she was staying, while asking her Instagram followers to share any advice they may have on the matter.
‘The purchases were made in Spain in Madrid, around this area,’ she added. ‘Normally for the online purchase you need a confirmation code which is normally coming to my phone which didn’t happen.
‘Yeah, I don’t know, the circumstances are crazy and I don’t know how it could happen so please share something and be aware of people in Spain and these situations because it’s happening every f****** time I come here and this is getting out of control. So yeah, thanks I guess.’
Timofeeva, who hails from Moscow, enjoyed a fine start to the season in 2024, qualifying for the Australian Open before battling past Alize Cornet, Croline Wozniacki, beatriz Haddid Maia to reach the Round of 16 at the Grand Slam.
It was her highest ever placing at one of the majors, with the 20-year-old suffering a defeat to Urainian player Marta Kostyuk.
Timofeeva failed to qualify for Wimbledon and the US Open in 2023. It came after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing at Wimbledon in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. They were subsequently allowed to compete as neutrals by the AELTC last year – with Wimbledon being the only Grand Slam to bar players from both countries.
After posting the video on Instagram, she followed up with a seperate story, clarifying several points, before again revealing that she would be filing a report to the police over the incident.
Timofeeva was playing at the WTA1000 Mutua Madrid Open when the incident occurred
Timofeeva (pictured in paris) admitted her confusion over how the money had been removed from her account
She also followed up with a separate message, claiming she would be contacting the police
The Russian tennis player failed to qualify for the Madrid Open, suffering defeat to Harriet Dart
She has enjoyed a good start to the season, reaching the Round of 16 at the Australian Open
‘Just to clarify a few things,’ she wrote. ‘1. I didn’t receive any SMS about money being spent from my account because the sim connected to the bank is not my main one, so I didn’t install it until today.
‘2. My card is debit and my bank has very limited communication options so they didn’t contact me as well until €10k was spent in one day and they blocked the card. So for now I was only able to send them an email and hope that they can refund the money.
‘3. I didn’t use ATMs during my stay here and the only place where I used a card reader was the official hotel of the tournament while I was paying for my coach’s room.
‘4. Physically the card was with me and for online purchases, these frauds would need its details and a conformation code so the main question is, how the f*** did they do it,’ she added with a laughing face emoji.
She subsequently thanked her Instagram followers for responding to her post, before also writing: ‘Tomorrow [I] will write a report to the police and keep you posted.’