Emma Raducanu Recalls Debilitating Fear After Confrontation with 'Fixated' Fan at Dubai Championships

Emma Raducanu, the former U.S. Open champion, opened up about a harrowing experience at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships that left her shaken. The 22-year-old tennis star revealed she suffered a physical and emotional reaction after being confronted by a man described as "fixated" on her, leading to his detention by Dubai police.

Speaking during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, her first tournament since the incident, Raducanu shared the intensity of the ordeal. "I was obviously very distraught," she said. Reflecting on the moment she spotted the man during her match, she added, "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 here.'"

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) confirmed that the man had displayed "fixated behavior" and approached Raducanu in a public space before later sitting in the first few rows of her match. The Dubai Media Office reported that the man left her a note and took a photograph of her during their encounters.

Following Raducanu’s complaint, Dubai Police detained the tourist, who had reportedly approached her twice off the court. It was later discovered that the same man had been seen at tournaments in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Doha in the weeks leading up to this incident. Despite the distress caused, Raducanu chose not to press charges against him.

"It was a very emotional time," she admitted. "After the match I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost." The WTA has since banned the man from attending any future tournaments pending a threat assessment.

Adding to the unsettling parallels, this isn’t Raducanu’s first encounter with a stalker. In 2022, she was granted a five-year restraining order against a man in London who had been found guilty of stalking her, including showing up at her home multiple times and leaving unwanted gifts. At the time, Raducanu was just 19 years old.

Raducanu is now focused on moving forward and will face Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in her first tournament since the Dubai incident.