Katie Boulter’s horror ordeal as tennis reeling from Emma Raducanu incident
Alex de Minaur’s fiancee has revealed a terrifying experience as the tennis world reckons with a truly horrific incident this week.
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Emma Raducanu’s horrific ordeal this week as she hid from a “fixated” fan has shone a light on the terrifying experiences of many by female tennis players.
Hideous harassment of tennis players has come under the microscope this week, after Emma Raducanu was targeted by a “fixated man” in Dubai.
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Raducanu notified the WTA earlier this week after a “fixated man” handed her a note in Dubai.
The same individual appeared at her second round match with Karolina Muchova on Tuesday night, with a tearful Raducanu spotting him, hiding behind the umpire’s chair as the man was ejected.
The 22-year-old somehow managed to play out the match, but lost 7-6 6-4 to Muchova.
Raducanu later released a statement on social media, which read: “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.”
Katie Boulter, the fiancee of Australian Alex de Minaur, was threatened by a tennis fan at an event in Nottingham last year.
The British No. 1 is two-time defending champion at the LTA-run tournament.
In December, Boulter recounted her own awful experience in Nottingham, the nearest event to her hometown Leicester.
She revealed: “One time in Nottingham, I had someone messaging me on social media saying: ‘I’m outside. I’m going to hurt you if you come outside.’
“Obviously I alerted the WTA, and they found the guy, who was actually on site. Things like this happen all the time.
“Obviously we are very well protected, which makes you feel safe. The WTA does a great job of being there for you with that.
“I do feel like we are protected as much as possible, which at least puts your mind at ease a little bit.”
Boulter has been in a relationship with de Minaur since 2020, with the pair announcing their engagement last December.
When picking up De Minaur during the ATP event in Queen’s last year, Boulter endured further harassment.
“I had someone follow me in the car,” she said. “We went to Sloane Square, got out, went for a walk around the shops and stuff and the same car was following me home.
“I was with Alex, so it was absolutely fine, but yeah, it wasn’t the best feeling.”
Such experiences have become depressingly routine for Boulter, who went on to add: “It’s kind of normal nowadays. It’s a weird world sometimes.”
Raducanu’s stalker brought back memories of Monica Seles being stabbed on court by an obsessed fan of Seles’ rival Steffi Graff in 1993.
Seles had won nine grand slam titles as a teenager and was on track to become one of the greatest players of all time, but the stabbing derailed her career.
She won the 1996 Australian Open but was never quite the same player.
Raducanu’s harrowing experience prompted world No. 14 Mirra Andreeva to open up on an ordeal she endured aged just 14.
The Russian, now 17, added: “After every loss I think every player receives a bunch of hateful messages.
“I remember once when I was young, when I was 14-years-old, I was playing one of my first ITF tournaments, and I received a message after my loss that said: ‘Look around because I’m going to find you and I’m going to cut your arms.’
“That was still the one that I remember to this day.”
Roman Kelecic, who has been coaching Raducanu on a temporary basis, says her stalker watched her in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha before approaching her in Dubai.
“This man followed her to Singapore, to Abu Dhabi where I was with her, again in Doha, now in Dubai and we noticed him,” Kelecic told Croatian outlet Net.
“But initially we thought he was a fan, an admirer, because Emma is a really big tennis star with a huge fan base. Until he got physically close to her, started having contact in the form of selfies, hugging, etc.”
It’s also been claimed that Raducanu was approached by the man at a tournament restaurant on Monday, the day before her match against Muchova.
“That was the only moment in a month where I, the fitness coach, the security guard who was with us, was not with her at that moment,” Kelecic added.
“So, that man was assessing the situation and looking for the best moment to get closer to her. He had a strategy that was terrifying, he thought everything through, calculated it.
“It’s terrifying how much he, in essence, thought about it all and planned it. His strategy worked, and it was to get closer to her.”
The man has been arrested but Raducanu dropped formal charges after he signed an formal undertaking not to go near her again.
The individual has been banned from attending all WTA events. The governing body released a statement condemning the “fixated” spectator’s behaviour.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Katie Boulter’s horror ordeal as tennis reeling from Emma Raducanu incident
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