British tennis player Emma Raducanu says she no longer feels she is “hiding from anything” after being targeted earlier this year by a man who “exhibited fixated behaviour”.
The 2021 US Open champion was distressed and tearful when she saw a man who had followed her to four successive tournaments in the stands during a match in Dubai in February.
The man, who was removed and later given a restraining order by Dubai police, had given Raducanu a letter and asked for a photograph in a coffee shop the previous day.
The Briton says she has “got over” the incident – but does, however, admit to being occasionally unnerved when seeing printed photographs of herself.
“What did creep me out was I saw a photo of myself in London, and I didn’t see the paparazzi [photographers] taking it,” the 23-year-old said.
“I was with my two best friends. I just didn’t see the ‘paps’. That’s obviously creepy, when you’re like: I didn’t see them – how did they take this photo?
“But other than that, I feel good because someone’s always watching my back.”
Raducanu shot to worldwide fame when she won the US Open as an 18-year-old in 2021.
She has previously been the victim of a stalker, with another man given a five-year restraining order in 2022 after he walked 23 miles to her home.
The Englishwoman had increased security with her at tournaments after the upsetting incident in Dubai, and praised events for the protection she was given.
In June, Raducanu told BBC Sport she had been feeling more safe at tournaments, but was still wary whenever she went out.
She is training with coach Francisco Roig in Barcelona this month, but has spent much of the past few weeks commuting to London by train from her parents’ house in Bromley.
Raducanu said she had considered going on holiday after ending her season early because of illness and a foot problem, but wanted to experience home comforts.
“I’ve barely been in the UK this year because I’ve been competing so much, but spending quality time with my parents has been so nice,” she said.
“It reminds me of when I was younger – the same bedroom, same everything.”
While being part of rush hour travel is an experience in itself, Raducanu says she is becoming more comfortable being recognised in public.
“In rush hour, people are so locked in to their world. They’re not really paying attention and probably not expecting to see me either,” she said.
“I have my hood up, or whatever, but they’re just so focused and absorbed in their own world.
“It’s all so crazy. It’s like everyone’s on a mission. You have to get the elbows out, just to get through.
“If people recognise me, if people see me, and they want to come up to me, then that’s great, but I don’t necessarily feel like I’m hiding from anything any more.”
