Emma Raducanu has said she “couldn’t see the ball through tears” after realising her stalker was in the crowd during her second-round Dubai Open match last month.
The 22-year-old also revealed she could “barely breathe” during the ordeal, which left her hiding behind the umpire’s chair during an eventual defeat to Karolina Muchova.
She plays her first match since the Dubai Open at Indian Wells in California on Thursday, having immediately returned to England and taken time out of the spotlight and sport.
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Read More“I was obviously very distraught,” Raducanu said on Tuesday. “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 the tears. I could barely breathe.
“I was like, you just need to take a breather here. The first four games kind of ran away from me because I was not on the court, to be honest. I’m not really sure how I regrouped. I think that was a pretty good effort for me to carry on playing in that match and that scenario and finish the match.”
The former US Open winner encountered the stalker twice in Dubai – on the first occasion he handed her a letter and watched her in a coffee shop.
She explained: “It was the second one I just got freaked out by because the first one was more like a normal fan approaching you.
“The second incident was really worrying.”
The stalker followed her from Singapore to Dubai and has since been handed a restraining order by Dubai police.
Raducanu has since been provided increased security by the WTA, led by a former high-ranking secret service agent.
She later opted not to press charges but the individual has been banned from future tournaments.
“It was a very emotional time,” Raducanu said. “After the match I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost.
“There was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of the events happening, and I just needed that week off to take a breather and and come here. I feel a lot better.”
Raducanu will face Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who is ranked three places above her at 52 in the world, in the first round in California. The winner is guaranteed to face third seed Coco Gauff, with the top 32 players all receiving byes through to the second round.
With additional reporting by Press Association
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