Man who displayed ‘fixated behavior' toward Emma Raducanu applied for Wimbledon tickets
The man who was given a restraining order for displaying fixated behavior toward Emma Raducanu attempted to buy tickets for this year's Wimbledon.
Raducanu was reduced to tears mid-match at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, having been stopped by the man at a coffee shop the previous day, where he gave her a letter and asked for a photo. She had also seen him at numerous other events in the preceding few weeks.
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The same man has since tried to get tickets for Wimbledon through the public ballot, as first reported by the BBC. But following the incident in Dubai, tournament organizers did a sweep of applicants and his application was removed.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which hosts Wimbledon, works with a range of organizations to keep players safe. They include the Metropolitan Police Service, National Counter Terrorism Security Office, National Protective Security Authority, and tennis organizations like the WTA and ATP tours. It also works with Theseus Fixated Risk Management, which specializes in identifying and dealing with obsessive individuals; there are former Metropolitan Police officers in the Wimbledon security team. In addition, the tournament employs behavioral detection officers, who specialize in picking up on crowd members acting suspiciously.
Following the Raducanu incident in Dubai and Iga Świątek being confronted during a practice session at the Miami Open in March, player safety has been front of mind in tennis — especially on the WTA Tour. At the pre-Wimbledon media briefing last week, AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said that 'the safety and wellbeing of all the players is our absolute top priority.
'The recent incidents coming to light have certainly been recognized, the concern that's been generated by that. But we have in place and have had for many years processes for ensuring the safety of our players and that's in liaison with law enforcement agencies, specialist security teams. We liaise with both tours. And that is year round, that's not just in preparation for the championships.
'And it's a bit like the broader security for the grounds. We are putting in place measures that are reflective of the threat and risk profile at the time, but it's absolutely a top priority for us. We probably wouldn't at this point comment on any details in respect of any individual athlete, but that intelligence is being gathered working with those other parties throughout the year to make sure that we've got the right measures in place come the championships.'
Raducanu welcomed this commitment and said in a news conference last week: 'I think feeling safe, feeling secure is extremely important. I think, you know, playing at home, there is heightened tension. But for me, whenever I played at Wimbledon, I felt very well protected, very safe. I'm looking forward to going there, and I don't think, yeah, I will feel much of a difference.'
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Another man was given a five-year restraining order three years ago, after he walked 23 miles to Raducanu's family home. A couple of weeks after the Dubai incident, Raducanu told reporters that: 'In England it's pretty difficult for me to go out and about. Sometimes I've had neck pain from looking at the floor so much with a cap on.'
Raducanu is not competing this week as she looks to shake off an ongoing back issue that hampered her during last week's quarterfinal defeat to Zheng Qinwen at the HSBC Championships. She is confident of being fit to play in next week's Lexus Eastbourne Open, ahead of Wimbledon, which starts Mon. June 30. Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, reached the fourth round at the All England Club last year.
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