Emma Raducanu’s experience of finding herself the target of concerning behaviour from a fan highlights a “pervasive issue” affecting tennis players, according to the Professional Tennis Players Association.
In December, current British number one Katie Boulter admitted “people have followed me at times” in an interview with the Guardian, sharing one incident in which she was tracked by the same car all the way home after spending time with fiance and fellow tennis professional Alex de Minaur.
The former British number one on Wednesday said she will be OK after a “difficult experience” at the Dubai Tennis Championships where she was approached by a man displaying what the WTA described as “fixated behaviour” before her second-round defeat to Karolina Muchova.
“Such disturbances are not confined to elite events; they also occur with unsettling regularity at lower-tier tournaments, exacerbated by the influence of online betting.“We commend the Dubai security team’s efforts, and we recognise the lingering toll these kinds of incidents take on players’ performance and welfare.
The WTA said on Wednesday: “This same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and subsequently ejected.
