Emma Raducanu’s panicked tears at the Dubai Tennis Championships sent shockwaves across the sport. Here we had a Grand Slam champion and world famous athlete, but also primarily a 22-year-old woman, who felt forced to hide behind the umpire’s chair in distress because of a man in the crowd.
Her reaction was understandable, especially as she had been made to feel uncomfortable by this “fixated” man the previous day, when he approached her in a public space. What was so disturbing about what happened on Tuesday is that it played out in front of our very eyes, live on television. Maybe alarm or shock should not be the overall reaction though.
In the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics defined stalking as “two or more incidents causing distress, fear, or alarm”, including obscene or threatening letters, emails, messages or calls, as well as being followed, watched or a person loitering around your home or workplace. Latest figures found that one in five women have been a victim of stalking (20.2 per cent of women surveyed, compared to 8.7 per cent of men).
There are no statistics available to confirm for certain whether women tennis players are actually more at risk than other professional athletes. What is clear is that tennis has had more high profile examples of it than most sports.
The most obvious one stretches back to 1993, when Monica Seles was stabbed on court in Hamburg by a deranged man who had an unhealthy obsession with her rival, Steffi Graf.
Serena Williams had a close encounter when a man was arrested for trying to break into the Wimbledon grounds to see her back in 2012. Raducanu herself had a stalker who showed up at her home three times, before he was handed a five-year restraining order in 2022.
My understanding is that on-site harassment of the nature experienced by Raducanu this week is relatively rare on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) circuit. But it is definitely still happening.
In a December interview, British No 1 Katie Boulter revealed to The Guardian she had been followed when leaving Queen’s Club tennis venue, as a car tailed her own for three miles all the way to Sloane Square. Worryingly, she also had physically threatening messages sent to her over social media while at the Nottingham Open, and the perpetrator was found onsite and promptly ejected by security staff after the WTA were alerted.
Last year American player Danielle Collins described security issues as affecting “many” women on tour. She told The Telegraph that, when she was still relatively low profile, one depraved person sought out her family’s place of work and called them up. As a result she said she rarely goes out alone and often struggles in crowded spaces.
Last month Coco Gauff replied to a social media post shared by American sprinter Gabby Thomas, where she detailed how she is regularly harassed by a specific group of middle-aged men at airports. Gauff commented: “This happens to me too… my theory is maybe someone at the airport tips them off.”
These players have stuck their head above the parapet to share how they have been impacted by this ongoing scary harassment. This is a mere handful of the examples we know about.
Most instances of stalking are dealt with more quietly though, behind the scenes. It can manifest itself in the incessant messages levelled against players by obsessive users on social media or in disquieting encounters in person, as with Raducanu’s case. All the while, athletes put on brave faces and continue to perform despite knowing danger could be lurking at every turn.
Tennis players may be more easily subject to such harassment because of the way the sport works. They travel the world, from tournament to tournament, and some do so alone or with the support of one or two individuals (an agent, a parent or a coach). On court, they are alone too, the crowd often within touching distance.
When a player moves to the towel box on the side of the court, spectators are right in their faces, watching their every move. At some tournaments players literally needed to move among the crowds to get to their court. It is a special part of the sport, the way you can feel incredibly close to the action as a match-going fan, but when incidents like Tuesday’s occur, it makes you assess this access in a different light.
When it comes to social media, as individual athletes, tennis players get all the praise and all the hate too. France’s Caroline Garcia spoke out last year about how online gamblers incessantly harass players over losses, when they are already “emotionally destroyed” and hit out at “tournaments and the sport” for continuing to partner with them.
The WTA says “player welfare and safety is a top priority and safeguarding is an area in which we remain ever vigilant”. Their expansion of its dedicated staff and resources in this area in recent years is a testament to that.
They have a director of safeguarding (and additional support staff focused on safeguarding), a safeguarding code of conduct for all WTA Tour participants, and launched a mandatory safeguarding education module for anyone seeking a WTA Tour credential.
Additionally, players have the support of mental health care providers present in person or over the phone at all tournaments. In 2024 the WTA also partnered with the International Tennis Federation, United States Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Club to launch Threat Matrix, a proactive AI-powered monitoring service that aims to protect athletes from online abuse and threats.
Multi-pronged action is being taken to try to keep players safe, but Raducanu’s Dubai experience was a reminder of how danger can slip through the cracks.
Comments
Leave a Comment