Iga Swiatek was threatened and harassed during a practice before her third-round match at the Miami Open – calling in extra security for the rest of the event.
The world No 1 was practising at the Miami Open before her match against Elise Mertens when the man started his tirade of abuse.
In the video, released online, the individual can be heard shouting towards Swiatek: “Hey Iga, call your mother. Iga, when are you going to make up with your mother?”
“Daria runs with water, like a trained dog.” said the man, referring to the Pole’s psychologist, Daria Abramowicz.
“The Miami incident appears to be a direct transition from verbal aggression online to harassment in the real world,” Swiatek’s spokesperson said to BBC Sport after the incident.
“He was aggressive and taunting.”
The world No 1’s PR manager went on to state: “We monitor the network for these types of cases. Constructive criticism is one thing, threats, hate speech, or even team disruption are another: this cannot be allowed.
“We reported the matter to the tournament organizer as well as the WTA, who responded immediately and took additional precautions, such as increased security, for which we are very grateful.
“Ensuring the safety of the athletes is the most important thing; they are at the centre of the action, and our job is simply to protect them.”
A spokesperson for the prestigious tournament also commented: “We take the safety and security of all players and tournament attendees extremely seriously.
“We constantly evaluate any potential threats and take every measure to respond appropriately. To ensure the effectiveness of these efforts, we do not disclose the details of our security operations”.
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The incident comes just weeks after an individual was removed from the stands during one of Emma Raducanu’s matches in Dubai for displaying ‘fixated behaviour.
Raducanu, earlier in March, went on to admit: ‘I was distraught. I was thinking, I don’t know how I’m going to finish. I literally couldn’t see the ball through the tears.
“I could barely breathe. I was playing Karolina, who’s top 17 in the world, and I can’t see the ball. And I’m like, I need to take a breather here. The first four games ran away from me because I was just not on the court. It was a pretty good effort for me to carry on playing.
“After the match, I completely broke down in tears. There was just so much emotion. I needed a week off to take a breather. I feel a lot better.”
As a result of the horrific ordeal, the man accepted a restraining order from the former US Open champion and was subsequently banned from all future WTA tournaments.
The Brit also opted for extra security, to help minimise future risk: “Since that incident I have definitely got increased attention and greater security. All we can do is look at what happened and react to it in a better way, in a more positive way, rather than looking back and blaming the situation.”
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