In the wake of Raducanu’s distressing encounter with a stalker, the tennis star stated that she hasn’t dwelled on it since the troubling event in Dubai. After bowing out at Indian Wells, Raducanu told BBC Sport: “I didn’t feel anxious about any of the scenarios that have happened recently. I think I had a good preparation with good people around.
“I didn’t have what happened in Dubai in my head at all today. If anything, a lack of preparation on the tennis court, playing someone who played pretty good in these extremely awkward conditions. I think it depends what sort of frame of mind you are in. I think all the players will say, if they are feeling good, it’s great.
“If they are not, it can be more difficult and challenging. You have to just overcome whatever hurdles that come your way and just keep going forward.”
A former Team GB athlete has revealed how her career was cut short due to the severe paranoia caused by an online stalker.
Tennis star Emma Raducanu, 22, is not the first British sportsperson to have had to suffer with a stalker. She suffered a first-round defeat at the Indian Wells Masters on Thursday, just weeks after breaking down in tears on court due to an unsavoury incident.
The man in question had followed Raducanu to multiple tournaments, previously handing her a letter and taking her photo. He was removed from the stands at the Dubai Championships last month after ‘exhibiting fixated behaviour’ and given a restraining order by local police.
Following the traumatic 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’.”
Raducanu is not alone in dealing with such an ordeal early in her career. Sabrina Sinha, a promising middle-distance runner, had her career prematurely ended after she was stalked online by a man from the US over the course of several months.
Sinha, a former champion at the English Schools Cross Country Championships and a representative of Great Britain at junior level, opened up about the harrowing stalking ordeal that made her take a step back from athletics. The now-25-year-old shared her experience on The Sports Agents podcasts with hosts and regular BBC presenters Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.
