Tennis Star Emma Raducanu Says She Could ‘Barely Breathe’ When She Saw 'Fixated' Fan in Crowd During Match

Mar. 15, 2025

Emma Raducanu.Photo:Christopher Pike/Getty

Christopher Pike/Getty

British tennis starEmma Raducanusays she struggled to breathe and “couldn’t see the ball through tears” whenher match last month was pausedat the Dubai Tennis Championships while security led a “fixated” man out of the crowd.

Raducanu, 22, told reporters this week that she could “barely breathe” when the umpire halted the match in order for security to escort the man out of the arena. Raducanu eventually lost the second-round match to Karolina Muchova in back-to-back sets after the umpire resumed the contest.

“I was obviously very distraught,” Raducanu told reporters in Indian Wells, Calif., this week, according to theAssociated Press. The 2021 U.S. Open Winner will return to tennis at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week, her first since the incident in Dubai last month.

“I saw him in the first game of the match and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to finish.' I literally couldn’t see the ball through tears,” Raducanu said, according to the AP. “I could barely breathe. I was like, ‘I need to just take a breather here.’ “

Emma Raducanu.Robert Prange/Getty

Robert Prange/Getty

Raducanu said she “did break down in tears” after the match, “but not necessarily because I lost.”“It was a very emotional time,” she added.

“There was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of the events happening, and I just needed that week off to take a breather and come here,” Raducanu said this week, noting that she feels “a lot better” after a few weeks away.

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Raducanu has dealt with stalkers before, receiving a restraining order against a fan in 2022 who came to her home three times, according to the AP.

“Thank you for the messages of support,” she wrote on Instagram last month following the most recent incident. “Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be okay and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match.”

source: people.com