Emma Raducanu broke down in tears during her Dubai Tennis Championships match on Tuesday after spotting a man in the crowd who’d shown ‘fixated behaviour’ towards her the previous afternoon
A member of Emma Raducanu’s coaching team has alleged that the British tennis star’s ‘stalker’ followed her across multiple countries before a terrifying ordeal in Dubai.
Raducanu, 22, chose to drop the charges against a man who’d been arrested in Dubai on Tuesday and later signed an agreement not to go near her again. Just two games into her second-round defeat to Karolina Muchova, a visibly distressed Raducanu broke down in tears, walked off the court and hid behind the umpire’s chair while asking for help.
Mirror Sport understands that the British No.2 had been approached by a man outside of the tournament perimeter on Monday afternoon. He’s said to have displayed ‘fixated behaviour’, reportedly handing Raducanu a letter and taking photos.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Tournament security teams were notified of the incident at noon on Tuesday, organising extra security for Raducanu when escorting her to the match later that day. After the man was spotted sitting in the first few rows and Raducanu noticed him, he was ejected and subsequently arrested.
Roman Kelecic, who coached Raducanu as a junior and was also seen working with her in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, now claims that the man was seen at three other tournaments, stretching back to Singapore in January. “This man followed her to Singapore, to Abu Dhabi where I was with her, again in Doha, now in Dubai and we noticed him,” Kelecic told Croatian outlet Net.
“But initially we thought he was a fan, an admirer, because Emma is a really big tennis star with a huge fan base. Until he got physically close to her, started having contact in the form of selfies, hugging, etcetera.”
Recalling the incident in Dubai, Kelecic added: “That 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. 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.
“It’s terrifying how much he, in essence, thought about it all and planned it. His strategy worked, and it was to get closer to her. That evening we reported it immediately and again in the morning, when she was playing the match, because her safety is the most important thing to us.”
Kelecic went on to say that pictures of the man in question had been circulated ahead of the match, although it was Raducanu herself who spotted him in the crowd. “Three or four hours before the match we have a photo of that stalker. Not only us, the entire security at the tournament has his photo and everyone knows who he is,” he continued.
“The first game, two points gone, 15-15, Emma is on the other side of the court and she’s showing us something. At that moment we didn’t know what it was. Emma loses the first game and runs to us, crying, shouting, ‘Here he is, here he is, here he is’.”
Mirror Sport has contacted the WTA for comment.
Raducanu broke her silence on Wednesday by saying: “Thank you for the messages of support. Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be okay 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 in a statement when news of the ‘stalker’ first broke: “On Monday, February 17, 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.
“He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment. 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.”
The Dubai Tennis Championships added: “We fully support the statement made earlier today by the WTA in regard to an incident involving Emma Raducanu on February 17. 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 during Emma’s second-round match on Tuesday.”
