Shocking Emma Raducanu scenes send frightening reminder of dark threat to female tennis stars
Emma Raducanu’s tearful meltdown in Dubai was a worrying reprise of the unwanted attention which follows female tennis stars like a shadow.
The former US Open champion was visibly distressed when she appeared to hide behind umpire Miriam Bley’s chair in an unscheduled break just two games into her straight sets defeat by Karolina Muchova.
Later it emerged that Raducanu, 22, had spotted a man, a few rows back in the stands, who had approached her the previous day and “exhibited fixated behaviour” towards her. As Muchova consoled her shaken opponent, Bley raised the alarm on her walkie-talkie and a man was ejected from the court by security officials.
There is not believed to be any connection with the incident and a stalker who was handed a five-year restraining order in February 2022 after walking 23 miles to Raducanu’s house and stealing her father’s shoe from the porch as a souvenir.
Delivery driver Amrit Magar had loitered outside the house, left unsolicited cards and gifts for the world No.56, and left Raducanu admitting she was “constantly looking over my shoulder.”
In a statement three years ago, she said: “Since all this has happened, I have felt creeped out. I feel very apprehensive if I go out, especially if I am on my own.
“Because of this I feel like my freedom has been taken away from me. I am constantly looking over my shoulder. I feel on edge and worried this could happen again.”
Since her astonishing US Open triumph as an 18-year-old qualifier in 2021, Raducanu has not made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament amid a series of injury setbacks. But it is reprehensible that she should try to recapture the glory of Flushing Meadow distracted by the unacceptable face of adulation.
Current British No.1 Katie Boulter has suffered her own torment, once being followed when she drove to collect her fiancé Alex de Minaur from Queen’s Club in west London – and the couple were later followed home from a shopping trip by the same vehicle. And Boulter has also encountered the scourge of online stalking, notably a threatening message on social media while she was competing at Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Nottingham.
The keyboard pest warned he was waiting for her outside the venue, and that he intended to “hurt” Boulter when she left the complex. The person responsible was later found on site at the Nottingham Open.
But the most frightening case was the knife attack on former world No.1 Monica Seles in Hamburg 32 years ago.
Seles, who had taken over from rival Steffi Graf at the top of the rankings, was stabbed in the back by unhinged German Gunter Parche during a changeover – an incident which led to a massive stepping-up of security around tennis players.
Parche’s motive for his obscene attack was to restore Graf to the No.1 spot. Seles had won eight Grand Slam titles by the age of 19 before the attack – but afterwards she added only one more before her retirement in 2008.
Raducanu ultimately went down 7-6 6-4 against Kuchova to miss out on a last 16 clash with American McCartney Kessler, who had earlier dumped world No.3 Coco Gauff out of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
But there was an immediate outpouring of support for her, with the Women’s Tennis Association revealing: “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 and subsequently ejected. He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.
“We are 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.”
And the Lawn Tennis Association issued a statement which said: “This incident once again highlights issues around safety that all players, but female players in particular, can face.
“We have support available for British players and have been in contact with Emma and her team following the events in Dubai.
“The tours have strong processes in place already and we will continue to work together along with police and security providers to deal with situations like this robustly.”
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