Emma Raducanu‘s former coach Roman Kelecic has opened up on the frightening moment she noticed a ‘stalker’ in the crowd at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The young Brit was visibly distressed during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova on Tuesday. She appeared to break down in tears and even took refuge behind the umpire’s chair as she sobbed.
It later transpired that a man who had approached Raducanu a day earlier was seated in the first few rows. The WTA said the man ‘exhibited fixated behaviour’ and was ejected from the match as well as being banned from future events.
Kelecic, who was in attendance in Dubai, has since claimed that pictures of the man were circulated to event organisers before the match.
« Three or four hours before the match we have a photo of that stalker, » he told i. « Not only us, the entire security at the tournament has his photo and everyone knows who he is.
« 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’. »
Express Sport has approached the WTA for comment.
After being ejected from the court, the man was arrested by police in Dubai but Raducanu dropped the charges after he ‘signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her’.
In a statement, the Government of Dubai Media Office explained: « Dubai authorities have taken swift action to address an incident involving British tennis star Emma Raducanu, in accordance with local legal protocols.
« Following Raducanu’s complaint, Dubai Police detained a tourist who approached her, left her a note, took her photograph, and engaged in behaviour that caused her distress during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
« While Raducanu later chose to drop the charges, the individual signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her and has been banned from future tournaments. »
Raducanu addressed the incident on social media following her match against Muchova, thanking her opponent for ‘being a great sport’ and wishing her luck for the rest of the tournament.
On Instagram, she wrote: « Thank you for the messages of support. Difficult experience yesterday [Tuesday] 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. »
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