Emma Raducanu’s second-round match at the Dubai Tennis Championships was only minutes old when she became visibly distressed. After swatting a return into the net, the Briton walked over to the umpire and, clutching the top of her visor as if to try to shield her face, appeared stricken with panic. She took refuge behind the umpire’s chair, as if hiding from someone, while her opponent Karolina Muchova offered some words of comfort.
It is now known that a man who “exhibited fixated behaviour” had been watching Raducanu courtside. The unnamed individual was swiftly removed from the court by security staff after Raducanu raised the alarm and the umpire had radioed in her concern, but the incident nevertheless made for disturbing viewing. It was confirmed by the Women’s Tennis Association hours later that a man who had approached Raducanu the previous day had been ejected and banned from the tournament.
Even before the WTA’s statement confirmed the pattern of events, the episode smacked of stalking, an issue that has long cast a shadow over women’s tennis. Ever since the stabbing of Monica Seles by Günter Parche, a German man infatuated with Steffi Graf, in 1993, tennis has had an unwanted association with obsessed, and in some extreme cases depraved, spectators.
Seles struggled with both her physical and mental health after the incident, never reaching previous heights. Security measures have been increased over the years – for example, in 2008 the WTA introduced background checks for those who want access to secure player locations at events – but the proximity of spectators to players is still a cause for concern.
As Seles herself said in 2011: “I do worry and hope that no other athlete has to go through what I went through. You are out there by yourself. It’s you and your opponent. And in tennis, the distance from the fans is pretty close.”
The rise of social media, increased visibility and wall-to-wall coverage of the sport has made it easier for perpetrators to follow players, yet it is also worth noting the circumstances that preceded the Raducanu incident. Her match with Muchova had been rescheduled several times on a rain-affected day in Dubai, with organisers deciding to change courts late on. The low-key and intimate nature of the event – the players were on a court sandwiched between others which had relatively small seating areas at both ends – allowed someone to slip through unnoticed.
Raducanu deserves huge credit for the way in which she handled proceedings after being rattled by the incident, which ultimately left her chasing the match. The British No 2, though, is no stranger to the perils of having to live her life in the public eye. Mere months after her US Open triumph in 2021, in addition to a portfolio of multi-million partnerships and new-found fame, she gained a stalker.
Amrit Magar was handed a five-year restraining order after walking 23 miles to her Bromley home and sending her unwanted cards and gifts. A court heard how his behaviour left the then 19-year-old paranoid and “constantly looking over her shoulder”. It was a case that highlighted the often precarious reality of female players on tour, but the alarming reality is that Raducanu is not alone.
Last year, compatriot Katie Boulter spoke about people following her, while American Danielle Collins was refreshingly open about security issues faced by female players in an interview with Telegraph Sport last summer, in which she detailed how she had spent the majority of her career dealing with crazed fans.
The individual nature of tennis might serve as the obvious clue as to why stalking is so prevalent, but it is something that sportswomen, irrespective of their rank and profile, have had to endure for years. While Raducanu’s incident involved an individual approaching her in a public place, incidents of cyber-stalking are also on the rise.
Telegraph Sport spoke to a relatively unknown but promising British middle-distance runner, Sabrina Sinha, four years ago. Sinha received unwanted emails from a man who began stalking her online, the full contents of which were too explicit to be printed. In January 2019 her perpetrator was sentenced to 14 years in prison after cyber-stalking women across the United States over a 12-month period.
Some of America’s top Women’s NBA players have been targeted by stalkers on an extreme level, including the sport’s global icon, Caitlin Clark, who was sent multiple threats and sexually explicit messages by a man who now faces a criminal conviction.
Such has been the deluge of cyber-stalking cases among some of America’s top players that on the eve of this year’s Unrivaled three-on-three basketball league, organisers held a security briefing with players to discuss their safety. All 36 competitors discussed not posting anything on social media that showed where they were living or their locations in real time, such as at restaurants or other public places.
