Concern over a man who’d exhibited “fixated behavior” caused Emma Raducanu to approach the chair umpire in tears and take an unscheduled break in her second-round match at the Dubai Championships, the Women’s Tennis Association said Wednesday. The incident unfolded three years after a man in Britain was convicted of stalking the star player at her family home.
There’d been no immediate explanation Tuesday when the 2021 U.S. Open champion walked to the umpire after the second game, said a few words and then stood in a small space between the back of the official’s chair and barrier netting adjacent to Court 2.
Raducanu returned to play after a brief delay at 2-0 down and eventually lost 7-6 (6), 6-4 to 14th-seeded Karolina Muchova.
On Wednesday, the WTA issued a statement explaining that Raducanu was approached in a public space Monday “by a man who exhibited fixated behavior” and “this same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday … and subsequently ejected.”
“He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.”
The chair umpire called tournament organizers immediately when Raducanu reported her concerns in the first set of the night match, and Muchova walked over to console the 22-year-old British player.
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Raducanu then picked up a towel, wiped her face, nodded and continued the match. She didn’t immediately comment on the incident.
The WTA said it was working with Raducanu and her team “to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support” and the Dubai Tennis Championships said it was collaborating with the WTA, BBC News reported.
“The tournament security team worked in collaboration with the WTA security team to proactively identify and immediately eject the individual in question from the stadium,” tournament organizers said. “We support the WTA’s decision to ban the individual in question from all WTA events, and share the tour’s longstanding commitment to player welfare, safety and wellbeing.”
Raducanu rose to fame in 2021 by winning the U.S. Open as a qualifier, one of the most unlikely achievements in tennis. She hasn’t advanced past the third round at a major since then and has spent long stints recovering from injuries.
In 2022, a stalker who walked 23 miles to the London home of Raducanu was given a five-year restraining order, BBC News reported. Amrit Magar told police he had been “drawn” to the tennis star “because of her high-profile status after her victory in the U.S. Open” and had taken her father’s shoe, believing it belonged to her, as a “souvenir,” BBC News reported at the time.