A missing watch, a WTA 1000 locker room, and one Instagram story were all it took for Maria Timofeeva to call out the China Open. She had just lost a three-set battle to Naomi Osaka, and instead of leaving quietly, she tagged the tournament in a post about a theft.
A day later, the story flipped. The watch was back, the tournament was being thanked as 'nothing but cooperative and helpful,' and Timofeeva was apologising for the 'mess and misunderstanding.' Either a genuine mix-up was blown out of proportion, or a very public tag fixed a very private problem at speed.
Why Did Maria Timofeeva Call Out the China Open?
The 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 defeat took two hours and four minutes, and it ended a strong run. Timofeeva arrived in Beijing ranked a career-high 68, fresh off a title in Porto, and beat Darja Vidmanova 6-3, 6-3 in round one. Pushing Osaka, a former China Open champion, to a deciding set only made the evening harder.
Taking it to a decider 🔥
— wta (@WTA) October 2, 2026
Maria Timofeeva seals the second set against Osaka in Beijing 6-3!#ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/HCmBF62DEU
Her Instagram story was part joke, part complaint. Having a watch stolen at a 1000 event 'wasn't on my bingo card this year,' she wrote, adding that she was 'accepting my fate of being a victim of all kinds of thefts as my part-time hobby.'
She also owned up to her mistake, saying the lesson was never to leave a bag outside a locker 'even for 10 mins while u take a shower.' Even so, she tagged @chinaopen and called it 'definitely not how I wanted to end my day.'
BIZARRE SCENES AT THE CHINA OPEN 🚨
— Kalshi Tennis (@KalshiTen) October 3, 2026
Maria Timofeeva had her watch stolen from the locker room in Beijing right after her match against Naomi Osaka yesterday.
"Getting my watch stolen from the locker room on a 1000 event wasn’t on my bingo card this year" 👀 pic.twitter.com/ifubsuMGSa
Theft is not new to her. In April 2024, she reported that more than €10,000 (approximately £8,400 or $11,100) had been spent from her account near her Madrid hotel while her card stayed with her, and a Spanish report called it the second such robbery she had suffered in Spain.
Was the Watch Ever Really Stolen?
The follow-up came with a thumbs-up selfie.
'The issue has been resolved,' Timofeeva wrote, apologizing for 'any mess and misunderstanding' and praising a tournament that had been 'nothing but cooperative and helpful with me as soon as I addressed the issue.'
She signed off with a laughing emoji and the line 'Some stories do have happy ends.'
— Sheron (@sharon_sh_hksg) October 4, 2026
How she phrased her apology suggests the fix came the moment the problem went public. A top-70 player tagging a WTA 1000 event puts the claim in front of fans and media before organizers can sort it out quietly, and no tournament wants that headline sitting there for long.
Where the watch was found, who handed it back and whether it was ever really stolen are all details the China Open and Timofeeva have kept to themselves.
Locker Room Security Under Scrutiny
There are two fair interpretations. Sympathetically, she had lost her match, then her watch disappeared while she showered; a tournament of this level should have secure locker rooms.
More charitably to organizers, she admitted leaving her bag outside a locker, and it may simply have been misplaced. Either way, this has little to do with whether the event is a WTA 1000 or small ITF tournament; belongings go missing everywhere.
it s just a girl easily losing stuff or forgetting where she kept. it s her "hobby" as she said..
— Simon (@simonontt) October 4, 2026
it s nothing to do with a 1000 event or itf event.
Timofeeva suggests a simple mix-up and accuses no one. There's no hint of an inside job. Still, the swift response shows who holds power: players need not file complaints and wait when one story can prompt action within hours.
