The season is ruthless and unforgiving, a significant tournament always on the horizon for its subjects. For Emma Raducanu, this means that after one of the most difficult experiences of her career, another encounter with a stalker, she has had little time to digest her emotions before the next big event is upon her.
Last month, while she competed in a series of tournaments across Asia, Raducanu was pursued by a stalker across tournament sites, cities and borders, who attempted strategically to approach her when she was alone. His behaviour culminated in Raducanu spotting him in the stands during her second‑round match against Karolina Muchova in Dubai. Understandably emotional, Raducanu asked for the man to be removed. He was subsequently banned from WTA tournaments and signed an agreement to stay away from her.
It was not entirely clear when Raducanu would return. While the stalker in question has seemingly been handled, this is the second time in three years that the 22‑year‑old has had to take public measures to protect herself from invasive, obsessive behaviour.
Her first encounter with such an individual culminated in Amrit Magar being handed a five‑year restraining order and community service for stalking Raducanu, visiting her family home and stealing items from its front porch in 2021. Her comments during the court case underlined the lasting impact such behaviour has. “Because of this I feel like my freedom has been taken away from me,” she said. “I am constantly looking over my shoulder. I feel on edge and worried this could happen again.”
It would have been completely understandable if she decided she needed more time to parse her emotions, that she was not ready to return to the grind of the tour, which includes many interactions with spectators and where the players are always on show. She has shown her resilience by opting to return to competition as soon as possible.
Raducanu will play this week at Indian Wells, a mixed WTA/ATP Masters 1000 event and the biggest tournament since the Australian Open in January. Perhaps a reflection of the additional focus on Raducanu after the stalking incident, she practised with the tournament director, Tommy Haas, on Friday during one of her first days in California. Indian Wells is said to have also bolstered its security in light of the events in Dubai.
Raducanu was dealt a difficult hand in the draw. She will face Moyuka Uchijima of Japan in the first round, a player who, at No 52 in the WTA rankings, sits three places above the Briton. A second‑round tussle with Coco Gauff, who received a first-round bye as a third seed, awaits the winner in round two. Regardless of Gauff’s recent indifferent form, this remains a tough slice of luck.
On the court, this has been a challenging period for Raducanu. Despite her off-season being ravaged by back spasms that badly affected her preparations for the new season, she had started her year well in Australia with a solid run to the third round before being dismantled by Iga Swiatek, the world No 2. However, Raducanu’s coach, Nick Cavaday, subsequently opted to leave the team due to his own medical issues.
After Raducanu’s well‑publicised difficulties with finding a long‑term coach she appeared to have established a measure of stability with Cavaday, a childhood coach she knew well and with whom she had a great rapport, since reuniting at the end of 2023. His departure was clearly a significant setback.
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During her time in the Middle East, Raducanu was accompanied by Roman Kelecic, a Croatian coach based in Dubai who she had travelled with during her junior career. She will be coached in Indian Wells by Tom Welsh, an LTA academy coach, who is also helping on an interim basis.
Raducanu’s difficult 1-4 record in February initially seemed to reflect the uncertainty in her coaching team but the stalking incidents and the distress it evidently caused for an extended period of time clearly put a different complexion on her results.
Raducanu’s match with Muchova ended with the Czech, one of the best players in the world right now, narrowly winning 7-6 (6), 6-4. Raducanu managed to show her quality by competing at an admirably high level until the end. She will step back on to the court in California aiming to again play quality tennis and set up a high-profile match with another one of the best in the world. For once, though, the results and her performances do not seem to be of particular importance.
It is more relevant that she is back competing, travelling and the actions of certain unhinged individuals have not stopped her from doing what she wants to do.
Source: theguardian.com
