Emma Raducanu has insisted “I’ll be OK” after the behaviour of a male spectator caused the British tennis star to pause a match in tears and raised again the issue of security for female athletes.
The 22-year-old spoke of the “difficult experience” she endured during her Dubai Tennis Championships match against Karolina Muchova on Tuesday night, when she was forced to alert officials mid-match to the presence of an individual in the stands who had accosted her earlier in the tournament.
The British No 2 was had looked uncomfortable in losing the first two games in her match against the world No 17 and before the third game approached the umpire’s chair in tears.
Following a discussion with the tournament director, security officials ejected the spectator before the match resumed. Raducanu slipped 4-0 behind before battling back to send the first set into a tie-break but eventually fell to a 7-6 (6), 6-4 defeat.
The man who had earlier exhibited “fixated behaviour” towards Raducanu, in the words of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), will be banned from all future WTA events, pending a “threat assessment”.
“Thank you for the messages of support,” Raducanu said on Instagram. “Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be OK and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match. Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament.”
The WTA said it was “actively working with Emma and her team” to provide security to the former US Open champion after the incident and said it was “committed … to maintaining a safe environment for all players”.
These were sentiments echoed by the LTA, the governing body of British tennis, which expects to host Raducanu at the HSBC Open this summer, when the women’s game will return to Queen’s Club in west London for the first time in over 50 years.
The LTA said in a statement that it had been in contact with Raducanu and promised “extensive” security arrangements for upcoming tournaments in the UK.
“This incident once again highlights issues around safety that all players, but female players in particular, can face,” the LTA said. “We have support available for British players and have been in contact with Emma and her team following the events in Dubai.
“We have extensive security arrangements at our events in Britain and keep these under constant review. The tours have strong processes in place already and we will continue to work together along with police and security providers to deal with situations like this robustly.”
The WTA’s statement on the incident read: “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.
“Player safety is our top priority, and tournaments are advised on security best practices for international sporting events. The WTA is actively working with Emma and her team to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support. We remain committed to collaborating with tournaments and their security teams worldwide to maintain a safe environment for all players.”
In 2022, Amrit Magar was given a five-year restraining order and a community service order for stalking Raducanu, who was a teenager at the time, in London. The 35-year-old was found to have made multiple visits to her family home and stole items that had been left on the front porch.
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Speaking at the time, Raducanu said she felt like “my freedom has been taken away from me” by Magar, adding: “I am constantly looking over my shoulder. I feel on edge and worried this could happen again.”
She is far from the only female professional to have been stalked in the world of tennis. Last year Katie Boulter, the British No 1, told the Guardian she had received threats of violence from men attending tournaments she was competing in. The American Danielle Collins has also recounted her own experiences, telling the Telegraph: “I don’t really go many places by myself, I make sure I always have security on site, and it’s been something I think that has affected me very personally.”
