Emma Raducanu says she is no longer ‘hiding’ after frightening experience with stalker

1. Sport
2. Tennis

The Briton recently endured a ‘creepy’ experience with paparazzi but says she has recovered from the stress of an unnerving incident with a stalker earlier this year

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Emma Raducanu said she has “got over” the unnerving experience of being stalked earlier this year and no longer feels she is “hiding from anything”.

The former US Open champion was reduced to tears when a man who had followed her to four separate tournaments approached her in Dubai, before appearing in the stands while she was playing a match the next day.

The man, who “exhibited fixated behaviour”, was removed by security and given a restraining order by Dubai police.

Speaking to numerous outlets before the start of a training bloc in Barcelona, the 23-year-old said she had “got over” the frightening incident but still found some intrusions into her life unnerving.

She said: “What did creep me out was I saw a photo of myself in London, and I didn't see the paparazzi taking it.

“I was with my two best friends. This happened last week, and it was some tabloid article saying I had a new boyfriend or whatever. But it’s literally my best friend’s brother. I was like: ‘Come on, guys. Come on. Be better. This is not [true].’

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“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.”

The British No 1 has been commuting from her family home in Bromley into London for gym training for the past few weeks and says the experience has helped her feel more comfortable in busy settings.

“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.

“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.”

Raducanu also weighed in on the ongoing debate over the ever-expanding tennis calendar, which has prompted numerous players including her counterpart as British No 1, Jack Draper, to call for changes to protect players’ health.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s something to complain about because it’s what we are given,” Raducanu said. “And we are making a great living as well. I mean, it’s not all glamorous. There are definitely times when it’s very difficult and we are flagging mentally, physically, everything hurts. But at the same time what are we going to do about it?

“I am sure there are certain people who go to work and their bosses make them do something, but they have to do it, it’s their job.

“If we put up a front that isn’t complaining, I think that is a better example to the people watching, trying to get into tennis, younger people. If they see all the top players moaning about the calendar, I don’t think that’s necessarily inspiring to look up to.”

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