INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Emma Raducanu says she “couldn’t see the ball through tears” and struggled to breathe after spotting a man who was “fixated” on her during a match.
The British tennis player and 2021 U.S. Open winner was left distressed during a match at last month’s Dubai Championships by the presence of the man in the stand.
The man, who had already approached Raducanu earlier in the tournament, was ejected from the arena after she spoke to the chair umpire during a second-round match against Karolina Muchova. He was later detained by Dubai police and signed a document pledging to “maintain distance” from Raducanu. The WTA said he had “exhibited fixated behavior.”
“I was obviously very distraught,” Raducanu told British reporters at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, her first tournament since the incident.
“I saw him in the first game of the match and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to finish’. I literally couldn’t see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe. I was like, ‘I need to just take a breather here’.”
