Emma Raducanu’s former coach Roman Kelecic has shed further light on the “terrifying” behaviour of the man who stalked the British star.
An unusual and concerning incident took place during Raducanu‘s 6-7(6), 4-6 loss to Karolina Muchova in the second round of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.
After falling 0-2 behind in the first set, a visibly distressed Raducanu spoke to the umpire before she hid behind the official’s chair while crying.
Muchova consoled Raducanu, while the umpire spoke to security officials and also had a lengthy discussion with both players before the match resumed.
A man was removed from the stadium during this break, and the WTA later revealed that the same individual had first approached Raducanu in public the day before the match.
A statement from the WTA Tour read: “On Monday, February 17, Emma Raducanu was approached in a public area by a man who exhibited fixated behaviour.
“This same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and subsequently ejected. He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.
The man – confirmed to be a tourist in Dubai – has since been handed a restraining order, in return for having charges against him being dropped.
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Kelecic coached Raducanu as a junior and worked with her at the tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this month.
In an interview with Croatian publication Net, Kelecic divulged that the stalker also followed Raducanu to her previous three events.
“This man followed her to Singapore, to Abu Dhabi where I was with her, again in Doha, now in Dubai and we noticed him,” the Croatian explained.
“But initially we thought he was a fan, an admirer, because Emma is a really big tennis star with a huge fan base. Until he got physically close to her, started having contact in the form of selfies, hugging, etc.”
The coach then provided terrifying insight into the man’s “calculated” plan to approach Raducanu when she was alone.
“That was the only moment in a month where I, the fitness coach, the security guard who was with us, was not with her at that moment,” he continued.
“So, that man was assessing the situation and looking for the best moment to get closer to her. He had a strategy that was terrifying, he thought everything through, calculated it.
“It’s terrifying how much he, in essence, thought about it all and planned it. His strategy worked, and it was to get closer to her.
“That evening we reported it immediately and again in the morning, when she was playing the match, because her safety is the most important thing to us.
“Three or four hours before the match we have a photo of that stalker. Not only us, the entire security at the tournament has his photo and everyone knows who he is.
“The first game, two points gone, 15-15, Emma is on the other side of the court and she’s showing us something. At that moment we didn’t know what it was. Emma loses the first game and runs to us, crying, shouting, ‘here he is, here he is, here he is’.”
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