Tennis star Emma Raducanu opened up Tuesday about the mental anguish she experienced at the Dubai Tennis Championships last month when she was targeted by a stalker.
‘I was obviously very distraught,’ Raducanu told reporters in Indian Wells, California, as she returns to action for the first time since the ordeal, which resulted in the man being escorted out of the arena by security personnel.
‘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.”
The 2021 U.S. Open champion said the same man had previously approached her twice off the court in Dubai and was also present during her matches in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
The man has since been banned from all WTA tournaments. He was also detained by Dubai police, but Raducanu later decided to drop the charges against him.
‘It was a very emotional time,’ said Raducanu, who took a week off before returning to the tour.
‘After the match I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost. There was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of the events happening, and I just needed that week off to take a breather and come here.
‘I feel a lot better.’