British tennis participant Emma Raducanu not too long ago opened up on the traumatising stalking incident that left her in tears throughout her Dubai Tennis Championships match in opposition to Czechia’s Karolina Muchova final month.
After recognizing a fan whom the WTA described to have exhibited “fixated behaviour” in one of many entrance rows on the match, a visibly shaken Raducanu proceeded to cover behind the umpire’s chair. Talking on Sky Sports activities forward of the Indian Wells match this week, Raducanu opened up on the emotional toll of the incident which started with the stalker approaching her at a espresso store.
“There have been two cases, and it was the second that I simply obtained freaked out by. The primary one was extra like a traditional fan approaching you, apart from the very fact he advised me he adopted me all over the place. After which [he] sort of watched me within the espresso store for some time… the second incident was actually worrying.”
The 2021 US Open winner stated regardless of her straight-sets loss to Muchova within the Spherical of 32, she was pleased with how she ultimately handled the scenario.
“I used to be clearly very distraught,” Raducanu advised reporters on Tuesday. “I noticed him within the first sport of the match and I used to be like, ‘I don’t understand how I’m going to complete.’
“I actually couldn’t see the ball by way of tears. I may barely breathe.”
“After the match, I did break down in tears, however not essentially as a result of I misplaced. There was simply a lot emotion in the previous couple of weeks of the occasions occurring, and I simply wanted that week off to take a breather and are available right here. I really feel so much higher,” she added.
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Raducanu claimed that the stalker had beforehand appeared in tournaments in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha earlier than Dubai.
The WTA later launched an announcement saying that the person in query had been ejected from the match. The Dubai authorities additionally confirmed that the person signed a proper restraining order and had been banned from future tournaments.
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