Feb. 20 (UPI) — Emma Raducanu says she “will be OK” after being brought to tears at the Dubai Championships because of a man who approached her in a public area and was later ejected when seen in the stands of her match.
Raducanu, who lost to Karolina Muchova on Tuesday in the Round of 32 match, addressed the indicent for the first time publicly Wednesday on her Instagram story.
“Thank you for the messages of support,” Raducanu wrote. “Difficult experience yesterday, but I’ll be OK 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.”
Magical Muchova
After a competitive match, Karolina Muchova knocks out Raducanu 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the Round of 16.#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/502Do7dQXa— wta (@WTA) February 18, 2025
The WTA released a statement after Raducanu’s match, saying the man “exhibited fixated behavior” toward the 22-year-old British tennis start. The man, who was seen in the first few rows of the match, was banned from all WTA events.
Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open women’s singles champion, was previously targeted by a stalker. That man, who traveled to her home multiple times, was charged in 2022.
Raducanu is the No. 61 player in the WTA singles rankings. Muchova, who is from the Czech Republic, is ranked No. 17. Muchova will meet No. 89 Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the quarterfinals at 10:40 a.m. EST Thursday in Dubai.
