Emma Raducanu stalker handed restraining order by Dubai police

A man who exhibited “fixated behaviour” towards Emma Raducanu has been handed a restraining order by Dubai police.

Raducanu has dropped formal charges against the stalker, who has been banned from future tournaments and must maintain distance from her.

The former US Open champion was visibly upset when she spotted the man in the crowd during her defeat to Karolina Muchova at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

He had previously approached Raducanu in public, handing her a note, taking her photograph and displaying behaviour which “caused her distress”.

In a statement, Dubai authorities said: “We have taken swift action to address an incident involving British tennis star Emma Raducanu, in accordance with local legal protocols.

“While Raducanu later chose to drop the charges, the individual signed a formal undertaking to maintain distance from her and has been banned from future tournaments.

“Dubai remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all residents and visitors to the emirate.”

“Fixated behaviour” – the term used in the WTA’s initial statement – is used by psychiatric experts to describe “an intense preoccupation pursued to an abnormally intense degree”.

Raducanu has previously had experience with stalking, when a man visited her house multiple times in 2022 and was handed a criminal conviction.

She raised her interaction with the man in Dubai to the Women’s Tennis Association, but they could not identify him ahead of her match.

Raducanu wrote on Instagram after the incident: “Thank you for the messages of support. 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.

“Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament.”

She was 2-0 down in the second-round match against Muchova when she spotted the man in the stands, going on to lose 7-6, 6-4, having broken a four-match losing streak earlier two days prior by beating Maria Sakkari.