WTA bans spectator after Raducanu incident
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said it has banned a man who exhibited "fixated behaviour" towards Emma Raducanu after he was taken away by security personnel during the Briton's match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship late on Tuesday.
Former US Open champion Raducanu appeared to be in tears as she approached the umpire's chair during the first set of her second-round match with Karolina Muchova.
The match was briefly halted after Raducanu spoke with the umpire, who quickly contacted tournament organisers. The 22-year-old stood behind the official's chair as the spectator was escorted away.
When play resumed Raducanu fought back from 4-0 down to force a tiebreak but ultimately fell 7-6(6) 6-4.
"On Monday Emma Raducanu was approached in a public area by a man who exhibited fixated behaviour," the WTA said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma's match on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and subsequently ejected. He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.
"The WTA is actively working with Emma and her team to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Scheffler sees golf majors like tennis Slams as US Open looms
Scottie Scheffler sees golf's major tournaments like Grand Slam tennis championships, with finesse events like the Masters and strength tests like this week's US Open at Oakmont. World number one Scheffler, the 2022 and 2024 Masters winner, comes off a victory at last month's PGA Championship and sees new challenges at Oakmont the same way the red clay at Roland Garros offers a different tennis test than a hardcourt US Open. "I kind of equate some of the major tests to the majors in tennis," Scheffler said on Tuesday. "You're playing on a different surface. You've got grass, clay and then the hardcourt and it's a different style of game." Augusta National offers undulating greens but almost no rough to encourage shotmaking, while Oakmont brings a US Open with deep rough, tricky bunkers and fast sloped greens. "The US Open compared to the Masters is a completely different type of test," Scheffler said. "At the Masters you have a lot more shotmaking when you get around the greens because it's a lot of fairway, there's pine straw, there's not really the rough factor. "Then when you get here, it's a lot of hacking out of the rough. You still have to be extremely precise but when you talk about strength and power, that becomes more of a factor at these tournaments because when you hit it in the rough you've got to muscle it out of there." There's no picking one as better or worse than another, just as with the tennis majors. It's a matter of style. "It's just a different type of test than you see at the Masters. Both of them are fantastic tests. I don't know if one of them is better than the other, but they're just different," Scheffler said. "Here, the winning score I don't think is going to be what the winning score was at the Masters." Rory McIlroy won the Masters on 11-under 277 after a playoff with Justin Rose. Expectations are for this week's US Open winner to be lucky to break par for 72 holes. "When you miss the green at the Masters, the ball runs away and it goes into these areas, and you can play a bump, you can play a flop. There's different options," Scheffler said. "Here when you hit the ball over the green, you just get in some heavy rough, and it's like, let me see how I can pop the ball out of this rough and somehow give myself a look." That strength factor is something Scheffler hopes to take advantage of this week as he did by using his shotmaking skills at the Masters. "I'd say there's definitely a strength factor coming out of the rough," Scheffler said of Oakmont. "There's so many bunkers, I don't really know if this is a golf course you can necessarily just overpower with kind of a bomb and gouge type strategy, especially with the way the rough is. "You have to play the angles. Some of the greens are elevated, other ones are pitched extremely away from you."
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Players undergoing fertility procedures to get protected ranking, says WTA
Female players who choose to undergo a fertility protection procedure will be allowed to take time away from the sport and return to competitive action with a protected ranking, the governing body of women's tennis (WTA) said on Wednesday. The new rule aims to support women athletes to balance their family goals and career ambitions and comes three months after the WTA offered players up to 12 months of paid maternity leave for the first time. "The new rule means that players can now take time away from professional tennis for a fertility protection procedure such as egg or embryo freezing and safely return to competition with a protected ranking," the WTA said in a statement. "Eligible players will receive a Special Entry Ranking (SER), which can be used to enter up to three tournaments, based on the 12-week average of their WTA Ranking from eight weeks prior to the start of their out-of-competition period." Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, has previously called for egg freezing to be recognised as a protected ranking activity and called Wednesday's announcement a "ground-breaking" move. "I'm incredibly proud of our sport in recognising the importance of fertility treatments for female athletes. For any woman, the conversation of family life versus a career is nuanced and complex," the former world number three said. "The WTA has now created a safe space for players to explore options and to make the best decisions for themselves." The WTA also said players will benefit from paid maternity leave and grants for fertility protection through the WTA Maternity Fund sponsored by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Gulf Today
15 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Raducanu downs Bucsa to lead British trio into 2nd round at Queen's Club as Krejcikova crashes out
Emma Raducanu had a comfortable straight sets win over Spain's Cristina Bucsa and was one of three Britons to reach the second round of the WTA 500 tournament at Queen's Club on Tuesday, while Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out. Bucsa had won their only previous meeting in the first round of this year's Singapore Open, but this time the Spaniard was no match for the 22-year-old wildcard and Raducanu strolled to a 6-1 6-2 win. 'I'm still trying to find my groove on this surface,' Raducanu said. 'I knew today would be a very difficult match, I lost to Cristina earlier in the year so I was trying to make sure that didn't happen again and fight to get myself into the second round.' Raducanu will now face Rebecca Sramkova after the Slovak caused an upset with a 6-4 6-3 win over Czech seventh seed Krejcikova, who only returned to action last month after a back injury kept her out since November. Top tier women's tennis has returned to Queen's Club for the first time since 1973 and the home crowd had plenty to cheer on day two with Katie Boulter and Heather Watson also winning their first-round matches. 'To have the women back here, it feels very special,' Boulter, current British number one, said. 'It's something I've dreamt of, actually walking out on this court, after the last couple of years coming as a fan watching the men.' Boulter beat Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(4) 1-6 6-4 and will face fifth seed Diana Shnaider after the Russian 21-year-old defeated Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-4 6-1. Watson defeated Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to earn a second-round clash with another Kazakh, fourth seed former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. 'Very happy to be through here at Queen's,' Watson said. 'It's such a great event so far, and I'm really enjoying playing here, playing on these courts at this amazing club, and staying at home, sleeping in my own bed.' The other Briton in action, Francesca Jones went down 6-2 6-4 to American McCartney Kessler who will meet top seed Zheng Quinwen. Czech Lehecka opens grass campaign with win in Stuttgart: Rising Czech force Jiri Lehecka began his Wimbledon build-up in impressive fashion with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open on Monday. The eighth seed, whose last match on grass was in the Wimbledon fourth round in 2023, quickly got up to speed to overpower Bonzi, firing down 13 aces. Lehecka, 23, will face 2023 Stuttgart runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff next after he thumped down 30 aces during a 6-4 6-4 victory over Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, his first win against a top-50 opponent this season. American sixth seed Brandon Nakashima came through a battle against Britain's Jacob Fearnley, winning 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1. Top seed at the ATP 250 event is Alexander Zverev. Action also began at the Libema Open in Den Bosch with two-time runner-up Jordan Thompson beginning another run with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of American Aleksandar Kovacevic. Murray leaves door open to coaching return: Former world number one Andy Murray has left the door open to a coaching return after his short stint with Novak Djokovic ended without a trophy, but the Scot said he did not expect to be working with another player anytime soon. Serb Djokovic appointed Murray ahead of this year's Australian Open and said at the Qatar Open in February they would continue working together for an indefinite period. However, the 24-times Grand Slam champion then endured a woeful run of form and the pair parted ways last month ahead of the French Open. 'I would do it again at some stage. I don't think that will happen immediately,' Murray told the BBC on Monday. 'I wasn't planning on going into coaching as soon as I finished playing but it was a pretty unique opportunity. Reuters
