A man was ejected from Emma Raducanu's match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Feb. 18 after he had "exhibited fixated behavior" toward the tennis star one day earlier, the Women's Tennis Association said.
Raducanu was approached by the man in a public area on Feb. 17 before he was identified in the first few rows of her match against Czech player Karolina Muchova the day after, the WTA said in a statement posted on X.
The man, who was not publicly identified, was ejected from the match and will be banned from all WTA events "pending a threat assessment," according to the WTA.
"Player safety is our top priority, and tournaments are advised on security best practices for international sporting events," the association said. "The WTA is actively working with Emma and her team to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support."
Raducanu, 22, became emotional at the start of the match, and then approached the umpire's chair and appeared to tell the umpire about the situation.
At one point, she hid behind the chair, but Raducanu ultimately returned to the match, in which she lost to Muchova 7-6(6), 6-4.
The British tennis star thanked her fans for messages of support in a post on her Instagram Story on Feb. 19.
"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," she said. "Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament."
The winner of the 2021 U.S. Open has had other troubling encounters with fans in the past.
In 2022, a British man was given a five-year restraining order after he was found guilty of stalking Raducanu.
Amrit Magar, a former delivery driver from London, went to Raducanu's home three separate times in 2021, leaving a bouquet of flowers, a personal note and a hand-drawn map of the 23-mile trek he walked from his home, according to the Associated Press.
Magar was arrested after Raducanu's father was alerted by doorbell camera footage that his shoe had been taken from their porch.
