Emma Raducanu has had a difficult time on the court this season, and it isn’t only related to her performances. Back during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships earlier this season, the former US Open champion was stunned to see a man with “fixated behavior” in the stands. It was the same individual who had approached Raducanu previously, and she complained to the chair umpire, following which he was removed from the stands. That incident left a significant impact on Raducanu, and she was reduced to tears during the match. Months after that incident, Raducanu opened up about how her life changed after that event.

Meanwhile, this wasn’t the first stalking incident that Raducanu had encountered in her life. Back in 2022, a man stalked Raducanu and even visited her home, following which the All England Club banned the man from attending Wimbledon. Amid these events, Raducanu’s security was increased, and she even had some changes to her routine.

During an interview, Raducanu said, “I think after the Dubai incident, that was probably the worst [public attention] I’ve had. I remember straight afterwards, I found it very difficult going out. I definitely had a bit of a leftover lag effect. But I’ve been a lot more astute, a lot more, I’d say, safe and have someone with me. I don’t really go out on my own as much. No solo walks. Just always having someone watching my back.”

Although such incidents had a profound impact on her career, Raducanu maintains that she is tough and knows how to deal with setbacks. While many people maintained that Raducanu wasn’t tough enough to deal with the challenges on the WTA Tour, the former US Open champ countered, “I was obviously, like: ‘Oh, no, I am tough enough. It wasn’t good to hear, because I always prided myself on being a hard worker and being tough.”

However, the incident in Dubai left a deep emotional impact on Raducanu. She once revealed the mental effect that the incident had on her.

Emma Raducanu could ‘barely breathe’ after stalking incident in Dubai

Although Emma Raducanu is one of the biggest names at the tournaments, she has had to deal with some unfortunate incidents over the course of her career. Be it injuries or stalking incidents, it has been a tough few years for Raducanu after her success at the US Open in 2021. The Brit even found herself in a shocking state after finding a man with “fixated behavior” in the stands during her match in Dubai.

Talking about that incident, Raducanu said, “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. I could barely breathe. I was like, ‘I need to just take a breather.’ It was a very emotional time. After the match, I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost. 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.”

Nonetheless, Raducanu hopes to come back strong at a venue where she won her career’s biggest title. The Brit goes into the US Open on the back of some decent performances of late. Can she dig deep in New York? Let us know your views in the comments below.