Emma Raducanu: I'm wary when I go out after stalker ordeal
Emma Raducanu admitted she has been 'wary' when going out after her ordeal with a stalker at the Dubai Duty Free Championships this year.
The 22-year-old hid behind the umpire's chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a man displaying 'fixated behaviour' before and during a second-round match against Karolina Muchova in February.
At the time, the 2021 US Open champion said she 'couldn't see the ball through tears' and could 'barely breathe' — and she revealed on Sunday that the situation was exacerbated by her being unsettled without a full-time coach.
'It was difficult,' Raducanu told BBC Sport. 'It was emphasised by the fact I didn't necessarily feel certain or comfortable in my own set-up and team, so it just added to the anxious feeling.
'I'm obviously wary when I go out. I try not to be careless about it because you only realise how much of a problem it is when you're in that situation and I don't necessarily want to be in that situation again. Off the court right now, I feel good, I feel pretty settled. I feel like I have good people around me and anything that was negative, I kind of brush it off as much as I can.'
Raducanu has meanwhile revealed that she has low expectations for the start of her grass-court campaign because of a back spasm that continues to hinder her after the French Open. She will take part in the singles and doubles, with Katie Boulter, at the HSBC Championships as women's events return to the Queen's Club for the first time since 1973.
Raducanu has been practising in west London with Nick Cavaday, the coach with whom she parted ways in January, while Mark Petchey has commentary duties at Roland Garros. Cavaday withdrew five months ago for health reasons, leaving Petchey and Jane O'Donoghue to oversee her performances on clay, but both men are set to help out on grass.
'I'm happy to see him healthy first of all,' Raducanu said. 'It's been a long time since we were last on court together in Australia. Obviously Mark is in Paris commentating so Nick was around and it was nice to just have a few days with him.'
Raducanu played encouragingly on clay, reaching the fourth round of the Italian Open and second round of the French Open, but was comprehensively beaten by Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek. Expectation is higher for British players on grass, but a recurrence of the back spasm that affected her in Australia and France has hindered Raducanu's preparations.
'Of course you want to win the tournament, like every tournament, but especially when it's at home,' Raducanu said. 'My expectations, truthfully, are pretty low because I played points for the first time today and I've had maybe two or three days on the grass courts so it's not been much.
'Today was the first day I opened it up and played points on the grass so it's pretty early days. I wouldn't say I've had a lot of prep on it but I felt pretty good today. Playing with Katie in a doubles match on the grass hopefully will help give a good feel of how it is to serve, to move and to react to balls on that surface.
British grass-court season
HSBC Championships, Queen's Club
June 9-15 (women's)
June 16-22 (men's)
Nottingham Open
June 16-22 (women's)
Rothesay International, Eastbourne
June 23-28 (women's and men's)
The Championships, Wimbledon
June 30-July 13 (women's and men's)
'I know I've been managing my back for the last few weeks now and that's something that comes and goes. Overall I just have to manage what I can take care of and if it does happen then I just need to deal with it and just keep doing the right thing.'
Last year Raducanu reached the semi-finals in Nottingham, where she lost to Boulter, and defeated Jessica Pegula, the world No5, en route to the Eastbourne quarter-finals before a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon. This year's calendar differs because of the restoration of a WTA 500 event at Queen's. After the championships stopped in 1973, Queen's returned in 1977 as a men's-only event, but this year there will be a week-long women's draw to kick off a fortnight of competition.
Ten members of the women's top 20 will be in action. Qinwen Zheng is the highest-ranked entrant, followed by Madison Keys and Emma Navarro. Barbora Krejcikova, the defending Wimbledon champion, is here along with the former SW19 victors Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina. Joining Raducanu in the singles are fellow Britons Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, Francesca Jones and Heather Watson.
Boulter and Raducanu will team up in doubles against Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu on Monday. This is novel ground for Raducanu: she competed at the 2022 Citi Open with Clara Tauson, and infamously withdrew from a partnership with Sir Andy Murray at Wimbledon last year. Murray will be at Queen's on Monday when centre court is unveiled as the Andy Murray Arena.
Boulter comes into Queen's from an uplifting clay season in which she secured her first tour-level win on the surface, a title at WTA 125 level, and a first win at Roland Garros.
'Obviously I want to do well here, but at the same time I know it's my first week, I'm trying to build towards Wimbledon as well,' Boulter said. 'So I've got quite a few weeks before then.'
Kartal also reached the second round at the French Open, and will start at Queen's on Monday with a tough match against Daria Kasatkina, before Burrage faces Amanda Anisimova. Boulter will play Ajla Tomljanovic and Raducanu will take on Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Father of kickboxer, 15, breaks down in tears at inquest as he reveals how 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed moments after unsanctioned fight and died three days later
A tearful father told an inquest how his 15-year-old 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed after an unsanctioned kickboxing match. Stephen Eastwood, 40, from Liverpool, said he stayed with his son Alex Eastwood at his hospital bedside until he passed away three days after the fatal bout. He told Bolton Coroner's Court: 'I would just like people to remember him as a wonderful, beautiful son. He was just a lovely, lovely boy. He was a beautiful soul.' Alex collapsed after the third and final round of a 'light contact' kickboxing bout in a ring at a gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan on June 29, 2024. He was rushed to hospital but had suffered a serious head injury. Unusually, Michael Pemberton, assistant coroner for Manchester (West), ahead of Alex's inquest, which started on Monday, has already raised concerns with the government in March this year about the safety of children in combat sports. Alex took up kickboxing aged nine, trained five times a week at Hurricane Combat and Fitness club in Fazakerley, Liverpool and had a 'meteoric' rise in the sport, having competed at high levels. He had grown to 6ft 7ins, weighed 80kg and had just finished his GCSEs the week before the fight was arranged with another opponent at the gym in Wigan. A tearful father told an inquest how his 15-year-old 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed after an unsanctioned kickboxing match. Stephen Eastwood, 40, from Liverpool, said he stayed with his son Alex Eastwood (pictured) at his hospital bedside until he passed away three days after the fatal bout The bout was to be the 'main event' but was an unofficial or unsanctioned event as it was a charity fundraiser, not a bout to win a title under the main governing body for the sport in the UK, Kickboxing GB. Alex, who was wearing a headguard, suddenly became unwell after the end of the third and final, two-minute round. Father-of-three Mr Eastwood said he noticed his son, 'not looking right' as he held on to the ropes to make his way back to his corner. He added: 'I have run, dived into the ring under the ropes landed on my back. I have grabbed hold of my son, holding on to him, laid him on the ring. 'At that point, it just turned into a chaotic scene. You had two first aiders in the ring, I was pacing around using profanities and swearing. 'My son's breathing was like a big bulldog on a sunny day, struggling. He did have what seemed like a seizure. It felt like a lifetime, sir.' Paramedics arrived and took the teenager first to hospital in Wigan and then on to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where surgeons were waiting to operate. But it was discovered he had suffered catastrophic brain damage and bleeding. Mr Eastwood said he, Alex's step-mother Nikita, his two siblings and other family spent time with him at the hospital. His father stayed with him at his bedside until he died on July 2, last year. His organs were donated. Daniel Wigelsworth, one of Alex's coaches at Hurricane Combat and Fitness in Liverpool, said he was party to arrangements for the bout Alex took part in, along with Dale Bannister, owner of the TKMA gym in Wigan, which was setting up a charity event. They arranged the fight with Alex's opponent, who has not been named, as a 'good match up' in terms of weight, age and skill. The inquest also heard there did not appear to be any definitive rules on the length of rounds and Mr Wigelsworth said the rules are 'unclear' with different interpretations of 'light contact' rules during bouts, it being left to coaches and referees. Mr Wigelsworth said he believed Alex's opponent was a year older than him, but in fact was two years his senior. The inquest heard competitions, exhibition events and 'fight nights' can be put on by individual clubs and independent promoters, and the governing body does not sanction fundraising events. Gordon Mitchell, director at Kickboxing GB, said the sport has a number of governing bodies that sanction fights but Kickboxing GB is the only one in the UK recognised by Sport England, the body supporting grassroots sport, and the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) which is itself recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Mr Mitchell said Kickboxing GB would never sanction 'light contact' bouts in a boxing ring due to safety reasons and these only take place outside a ring on mats. He said this is because it is easier to stop a fight on mats, by stepping off the mat, for example, if there is a mismatch. But he said in a bout in a ring, 'you are stuck between the ropes' and reliant on the referee to step in to stop a fight. 'There's more rules about stopping the fight early, on mats,' Mr Mitchell said. Adam Korn, a solicitor representing the Eastwood family, said despite these rules, unsanctioned, exhibition or 'fight night' bouts are frequently held up and down the country. Mr Korn said: 'Is that a concern to you?' 'Yes,' Mr Mitchell said. Mr Mitchell said he was aware of one other combat-related child death in the UK. Earlier this year the coroner wrote a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the government about the lack of regulation of contact sports for children, with no minimum standards or risk management. The inquest continues on Tuesday morning.
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Proud' night for teenage Miller
Scotland and Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller told BBC Scotland: "It's a good night's work, a proud moment to make my first start and to pop up with an assist is always nice."It's always easier when you get that early goal, it calmed everyone down and we played some nice stuff out there."I thought we came here tonight and our application was second to none."On what's next, he added: "I've got a couple of weeks off to come, then it's back to it."
BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
First Scotland goal 'massive' for Hirst
Scotland striker George Hirst told BBC Scotland: "To get that first goal is massive for me, but it was a great team performance and very professional."It was very disappointing on Friday night, we had to look at ourselves, but the good thing in football is you always have another opportunity and today we had that chance to put things right."They made it difficult for us, it was a dry pitch, there were millions of excuses we could've thrown out there, but we played with the right mentality."It makes my running a little easier, sharing the workload with Che [Adams]. If that's something to come moving forward then I'm not going to complain."
