British tennis star Emma Raducanu insisted she would be fine as she thanked fans for their support following a "difficult experience" during the Dubai WTA 1000 event where she was targeted by a man displaying "fixated behaviour".
The 22-year-old was down 2-0 in the first set of a second-round defeat against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Tuesday when she approached the umpire, then briefly took refuge behind his chair.
Emma Raducanu's fright when she realizes that a man who had approached her the day before in a public place in Dubai was attending her match against Muchova.
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) February 19, 2025
The man was fortunately arrested and banned from all WTA events.pic.twitter.com/63jdBNQb8V
The WTA said it would ban the man involved after he had had approached Raducanu in a public area on Monday where he exhibited "fixated behaviour" before taking a courtside seat during the first few rows for her match on Tuesday.
He was escorted away with Muchova rushing to comfort her before play resumed.
Raducanu, reflecting on the incident in a post to her Instagram feed, said Wednesday: "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."
🤍 @EmmaRaducanu pic.twitter.com/8a4zN4EFtw
— LTA (@the_LTA) February 19, 2025