The Mexican Tennis Federation announced on Wednesday it had cancelled a junior tournament after players and coaches fell victims to ‘virtual’ kidnapping.
Ten underage players and a coach were affected by the incident that led to tournament organisers shutting down the Juniors 30 event in the state of Guanajuato.
Virtual kidnapping is an extortion scheme that tricks the victims into paying a ransom to free a family member whom they believe is threatened with violence or death.
Unlike traditional abductions, virtual kidnappers, some inside prisons, do not abduct anyone, but attempt through deception to achieve their goal.
The Juniors 30 tournament is the lowest-ranked event held under the International Tennis Federation.
The players and coach at the centre of the episode are all back at the homes, the Mexican Federation said.
It caps off a difficult month for Mexican tennis after a venue in Acapulco was ravaged by Hurricane John last month.
The Arena GNP Seguros, which has hosted multiple ATP 500 tennis tournaments was left flooded when the tropical cyclone made landfall causing destruction across parts of southern Mexico.
Images showed the devastating effect of the hurricane with the stadium and surrounding areas left under water.
This year’s edition of the Acapulco ATP event in February, was almost cancelled after another hurricane wreaked havoc on the city in late 2023, claiming 52 lives.
Alex de Minaur was victorious at this year’s event, overcoming Casper Ruud to claim back-to-back victories in Acapulco.
“Acapulco is becoming like a second home,” De Minaur said after his victory. “I thought that it was impossible to feel better after what happened last year, but I came back a year later to defend the title and it has been a true pleasure.
“We wanted to bring some joy to this wonderful city. And I’m sure that Acapulco will shine stronger than ever.”
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal was the first winner of the Acapulco event and was victorious as recently as 2022, beating Britain’s Cam Norries in the final.
After winning what was to be his last title at the event, Nadal said: “It always has been a very special place. The energy that the people from Mexico bring to me is very unique. I’m very pleased. It was a very important title for me, so I can’t be happier.”
