By Simon Briggs
Emma Raducanu said “I couldn’t see the ball through the tears, I could barely breathe” in her first interview about her frightening stalking ordeal in Dubai a fortnight ago.
Flanked by a pair of security guards, Raducanu was sitting in an interview room in California and speaking about the presence of a “fixated” spectator at her most recent match against Karolina Muchova.
Emma Raducanu was terrified by the ordeal in Dubai.Credit: Getty Images
The incident made global headlines after she halted the match at the end of the second game, and took refuge behind the umpire’s chair until the problematic individual – who is not a British citizen – was expelled from the stands.
He was later released without charge by Dubai police, after signing a document that said he would stay away from her in future.
“I was obviously very distraught,” said Raducanu, who has extra guards with her at Indian Wells but has opted against any off-site provision. “I saw him [in the] first game of the match, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna finish.’
“I was playing Karolina, who’s top 17 in the world or something. I can’t see the ball. And I’m like, ‘I literally need to just take a breather here,’ and then the first four games kind of ran away from me. I was not on the court, to be honest, and I’m not really sure how I regrouped.
“I think that was a pretty good effort for me to carry on playing in that match, in that scenario. I finished the match [which she lost by a narrow 7-6, 6-4 scoreline], and I even had chances in the first set but, yeah, it was a very emotional time. And after the match, I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost.
“It was more because there was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of events. I needed a week off to take a breather and come here and I feel a lot better.”
While high-profile players would usually have one or two bodyguards with them while they move through the public areas of a tennis centre, Raducanu is reported to have been offered up to five extra staff members.
Some of the details of the timeline were revealed in the immediate aftermath by Roman Kelecic, Raducanu’s locum coach.
Emma Raducanu practises for Indian Wells this week, where she has been given extra security.Credit: Getty Images
Kelecic told a Croatian news website that the unnamed man had followed her through the four WTA events that run back-to-back from Singapore to Abu Dhabi to Doha to Dubai, and then approached her in a cafe at the last spot at the one moment when she was unaccompanied by any team members.
“That [the cafe approach] 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,” Kelecic said.
“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.”
Asked if the cafe incident – at which the man gave her a letter – was the moment when she realised the nature of his obsession, Raducanu replied: “There were two instances, and it was the second one that I just got freaked out by.
“The first one was more like a normal fan approaching you, except for the fact he told me he followed me from everywhere. And then [he] kind of watched me in the coffee shop for a while … the second incident was really worrying.”
Last week, the authorities announced that Raducanu had dropped charges against the man, who is unconnected with the previous stalking case that Raducanu endured in 2022.
Raducanu has a number of enthusiastic fans around the world who attend her matches in an appropriate spirit of celebration and support, including one devotee named Mark, who always turns up to the Australian Open and sits in the front row.
Asked if it can be hard to tell the difference between healthy support and problematic fans, Raducanu replied: “The thing with Mark, he’s loud, he’s there, he’s front row, he’s wearing an ‘Emma’ shirt.
“That guy is not like the one in the shadows, who is in the back or is gonna do something that’s maybe a bit nerve-racking. It’s more the hidden ones that I guess are scarier.”
Telegraph, London
