Someone Stole a Pro Tennis Player’s Trophy Right Out of Her New York City Hotel
Sorana Cîrstea should have been celebrating one of the high points of her career. After grinding through qualifying and storming to the title in Cleveland, she carried her hard-earned trophy with her to New York as a reminder of what she’d accomplished.
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Tatiana from Moscow, Russia
Instead of enjoying the momentum heading into the US Open, she ended up in the middle of an investigation. When she returned to her Midtown hotel room after her second-round loss, the trophy was gone.
Here’s what happened.
The NYC Trophy Heist
Cirstea had just finished up a great week at the Cleveland warm-up tournament for the US Open. It was a big deal for her, as she hadn’t won a singles title on a hard court in 17 years. She had battled her way through qualifying and a series of tough opponents before defeating American Ann Li in the final. It was a well-deserved victory and a perfect boost before heading to the biggest tournament of the summer.
So, like any proud athlete, she took her trophy with her to New York City. Cirstea was staying at The Fifty Sonesta hotel in Midtown while she competed at the US Open. After being eliminated in the second round by No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova, she went back to her room, only to find her trophy was gone. Her shock and disappointment were evident in her Instagram plea to the public. She posted that the trophy had “NO material value, just sentimental value,” and asked for its safe return.
The hotel’s general manager confirmed they were in close contact with her and had even assigned a retired NYPD detective to the case. But it’s not the first time a tennis player has had their hard-earned keepsakes disappear.
A Strange Trend
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Craig ONeal
As odd as Cirstea’s situation is, it’s a misfortune that even the sport’s biggest names have faced.
In November 2010, tennis icon Pete Sampras had a large part of his history stolen. Thieves broke into a West Los Angeles storage facility and made off with dozens of his trophies and pieces of memorabilia. The haul included the trophy from his first Australian Open victory, a collection of trophies for finishing top of the year-end rankings, and even an Olympic ring. Sampras expressed his frustration, saying it was like “having the history of my tennis life taken away.” The story had a happy ending, however, when most of the stolen items were anonymously returned.
A more recent instance is that of Hall of Famer Pam Shriver, who had her own trophy nightmare in January 2025. She was forced to evacuate her Los Angeles home due to wildfires. And to keep her possessions safe, she packed her trophies into her son’s car. The car was stolen from the hotel parking lot where they had taken shelter. The thieves made off with 11 of her Grand Slam trophies, a devastating loss during an already chaotic time.