Content Warning: this article contains themes of stalking and similar gender-based harassment. To those affected, The Courier urges individuals to seek support or contact the NUSU sabbatical officers if they have any concerns.
After looking notably uncomfortable for the opening two games, Raducanu stopped the match to tearfully alert the umpire. The man was then swiftly removed from the venue by Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) security.
She went on to claw back those games in the first set, ending it in a 7-6(6) tiebreak, and ultimately losing the match to opponent Karlonía Muchová (Czech No. 14 seed) at 7-6, 6-,4. And on the surface, this incident might seem as clean-cut as that. An unfortunate scenario that threw Raducanu off her game, and ultimately out of the tournament.
However, sources close to the tennis star have since divulged more sinister details about the indecent. Former Coach Roman Kelecic claims that this man had been following Raducanu across countries as she competed, even approaching her earlier that week to hand-deliver a note. Authorities at the tournament were reportedly aware of this obsessive behaviour and had a picture of the man to prevent him from getting close to the athlete. It is, then, even more concerning that he was able to get past the ‘heightened’ security so easily.
Raducanu reportedly served the man a restraining order after the Dubai incident, though charges have now allegedly been dropped. The man is still banned from attending her future tournaments.
"I am constantly looking over my shoulder"
Emma Raducanu
Unfortunately, this is also not Raducanu’s first high-profile stalking case to make headlines. In 2022, 35-year-old Amrit Magar was served a restraining order for walking 23 miles to her family home in London whilst she was just a teenager. She told the Bromley Magistrates Court at the time, “I feel like my freedom has been taken away from me. I am constantly looking over my shoulder”.
Stephanie Hillborne, Chief Executive of Women In Sport, has reiterated that “for women there is a whole extra sphere of horror” to being a prolific athlete. Lacking the financial scaffolding and authority of their male counterparts, the personal lives of female sportspeople are non-consensually splayed online by press outlets, and documented on socials in hopes of more funding.
Prolific Rugby Union Player Ilona Maher echoed this statement to the Daily Mail earlier this year, stating that “For women, our contracts are to play on the field. But that's also not going to make you have a comfortable living. That's why we have to do more off the field.” She has also opened up about the online harassment and threats that her viral and commodification has hailed, a critical side to the internet that sportsmen undeniably face less of.
"We have to do more off the field"
Ilona Maher
Placing her in the wider picture, Raducanu is yet another victim of the increased threats that female athletes endure for their success, a plight often swept under the rug in this predominantly male field. The latent fear is just “not well enough understood by an industry dominated by men”.
Whilst both the WTA and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have since publicly vowed to increase security for Raducanu and female players at upcoming events, this incident has refocussed the lens on the prevailing threats to female players (and women in general) from overentitled fans.
We can only hope to see safer conditions for Raducanu at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week, and issue a reminder that the women you support (or tear down) online do not owe you their attention.