- Raducanu was contacted on Monday and delivered a letter for the individual
- The former British No1 had seen man before and WTA and security were aware of
- The persistent rain saw that Raducanu's party was delayed and moved from Court 1 to 2
Emma Raducanu received a reinforced security detail before her match in the Dubai championship after the organizers learned of a “fixed individual.”
On Monday he approached the 22 -year -old and gave him a letter a man who had seen several times before. At noon on Tuesday, the day of the Raducanu Second Round match against Karolina Muchva, the WTA security teams and the tournament were informed of the potential threat.
Then there was an attempt to locate the individual, who was suspected that he would try to reach the Court for the Raducanu party. These efforts cannot have been helped by the reorganization of the schedule due to the persistent afternoon rain in Dubai, since the Raducanu party moved from Court 1 to Court 2.
The standard procedure is that a player is escorted from the player's area and back for a minimum of a security officer: this was reduced in response to the threat.
The commitment to intercept the man before entering the Court failed, but the security team was present to eliminate it quickly once it was seen in the crowd.
While everything that was happening, Raducanu was crying and hid behind the referee's chair, where she was comforted by her opponent.
Emma Raducanu was distressed and crying after detecting an “obsessed individual” known by the organizers in the Dubai tennis championship
Raducanu broke his silence in the incident with an Instagram history publication on Wednesday
His opponent Karolina Muchva discussed the 'strange' situation after his third round victory against McCartney Kessler
The Czech spoke for the first time about the incident after his third round victory over the American McCartney Kessler.
“It was a strange situation,” said the world No17. I honestly went to serve, I didn't even know that something was happening. Then I saw that he is not on the other side. So I went to consult with the referee and she told me what is happening.
'Obviously you don't want to see these things happen to anyone, to any woman. So he was just trying to be there, maybe calm her a little.
I am happy that they have solved it quite fast. I think it was fine after a while and we continue with the game.
Raducanu thanked a lot for his help in an Instagram post.
“Thank you for the messages of support,” he wrote, along with a photo of his cup of coffee and Emma, by Jane Austen. 'Difficult experience yesterday, but I will be well and proud of how I returned and competed despite what happened at the beginning of the game.
“Thanks to Karolina for being a great sport and the best of luck for the rest of the tournament.”