Emma Raducanu: I'm wary when I go out after stalker ordeal

Times

a day ago

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.