Emma Raducanu has been praised for the way she handled the shocking incident involving a fan who “exhibited fixated behaviour” during the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The full details of the events were only made public on Wednesday, a day after Raducanu’s second-round exit to Karolina Muchova at the WTA 1000 event in the United Arab Emirates.
The match was marred by an unusual incident in the third game when a visibly upset Raducanu went over to the chair umpire and after a brief discussion, the world No 61 hid behind the officials’ chair.
Muchova went over to console a crying Raducanu and security was informed after which a man was ejected from the stadium.
The following morning the WTA released a statement saying that Raducanu was first “approached in a public area by a man who exhibited fixated behaviour” and “this same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday”.
The man – revealed to be a tourist in Dubai – has since been handed a restraining order, in return for having charges against him being dropped.
Emma Raducanu News
Karolina Muchova shares account of ‘strange’ Emma Raducanu incident in Dubai
A Dubai Police statement added: “While Raducanu later chose to drop the charges, the individual signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her and has been banned from future tournaments. Dubai remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all residents and visitors to the emirate.”
It is not the first time that Raducanu has had to deal with a stalker as back in 2022 a man was handed a five-year restraining order after visiting her Bromley several times, leaving gifts and cards while also stealing property.
Former British No 1 Sam Smith gave her views on Raducanu’s reaction to the incident and her ability to regain her composure.
“I was horrified. Credit to Emma. You would never know what she had been through with the way she was playing and competing. I don’t know how she did that,” she told Sky Sports News.
“Emma had the presence of mind to stop, talk to the umpire. It looked as if the tournament reacted very quickly, so did the WTA and the person was removed very quickly.
“They did everything they could possibly do to make sure Emma was as protected as possible, certainly in a physical sense, but psychologically it was difficult for her to continue and play the match.
“I’ve never experienced it myself but even for a minor incident in the crowd, for example if someone is unwell or there’s a disturbance, it can be hard.
“Tennis players are trained to switch on and off but I don’t think anyone is built psychologically to cope with what Emma had to cope with in Dubai, and having to get over that in future matches.
“The WTA and ATP Tours will double down on looking at their protocols, which worked pretty well, but they absolutely prioritise player safety and wellbeing. They will look at whether they can take it to another level and I think they might have to.”
Raducanu – who is next due to be in action at the Indian Wells Open at the beginning of March – issued a brief response on Wednesday, saying: “Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be okay and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match.
“Thank you to Karolina [Muchova] for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament.”
The post Emma Raducanu applauded for ‘playing and competing’ after shocking fan incident appeared first on Tennis365.
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