The Rio Open organizers and the Rio de Janeiro government allegedly violated the privacy of Carlos Alcaraz, Joao Fonseca, and Lorenzo Musetti, among other prominent Tennis players. Their personal information was allegedly released online owing to a data breach on the government website.
Demétrio Vecchioli, a Brazilian reporter, conducted thorough research and revealed that this information was readily available, which he immediately reported to the authorities. All the leaks have now been removed from the website.
The reporter claimed to text Carlos Alcaraz over WhatsApp, who confirmed it was his contact. The reporter later shared passport photos of Fonseca and Alcaraz on his X (previously Twitter) account, describing the entire scenario.
"There is João's WhatsApp, Alcaraz's WhatsApp (who replied to me), images of documents with all the information that may be necessary for fraud, residential address. And not just them, but Thien, Musetti, Melo, Monteiro, etc, etc, etc."- posted the reporter on X.
"And it wasn't hidden. I found it just by searching for the name of one of them on the Rio government's transparency platform. Anyone could have found it," - Vecchioli posted on X (translated from Portuguese)
Essa daqui é a foto do João Fonseca no passaporte dele, emitido em out/2020.
— Demétrio Vecchioli (@Olhar_Olimpico) February 20, 2025
Como eu sei algo tão pessoal?
Este é um dos muitos dados pessoais vazados pela organização do Rio Open e pelo governo do RJ
Tem Whatsapp do João, Whatsapp do Alcaraz (que me respondeu), imagens dos… pic.twitter.com/OyzkrTMJjA
The Rio government purportedly made all information on cultural events funded by taxpayers available to the public through their transparency platform. Fans have expressed concern over the athletes' safety, claiming that all information required for fraud was publicly available.
Ironically, it is the second case this week when the tennis player's security has been breached. While it is an entirely different case compared to the controversial Emma Raducanu stalking episode that happened in Dubai, both the cases highlight the same thing, which is that players' privacy should be respected at all times.