Newsletter | Distressing Situation for Raducanu in Dubai

Emma Raducanu suffers a distressing incident in Dubai while big names fall

By Stephen Higgins | 21st February 2025

Emma Raducanu at Roland Garros
Elite female athletes like Emma Raducanu can carry a burden of pressure far beyond the court | Crosscourt View

It has been an extraordinary week on the tennis tour and we’ll get to the catalogue of upsets in the Middle East, but I think it’s appropriate to start with the more serious incident involving Emma Raducanu.

If you missed it, during the 22-year-old’s second round match in Dubai with Karolina Muchova, Raducanu broke down in tears after two games and walked over to the umpire.

She had been upset by a man described as having “fixated behaviour” towards her by the WTA. The individual reportedly approached the player on Monday at the tournament, gave her a letter and took Raducanu’s photograph according to Dubai Police.

Then, when the man turned up to Tuesday’s match, a distressed Raducanu noticed him in the crowd and asked for his ejection from court side. Visibly upset, she was consoled by Muchova and the umpire while the man was removed.

Afterwards, the man was detained by Dubai Police and received a restraining order but the Brit decided not to press charges. He will also be provisionally banned from future WTA events “pending a threat assessment”.

Raducanu, who fought a tough match against Muchova before losing 6-7 4-6, later said that it was a “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.”

In the tennis press, we often criticise Raducanu’s decision-making over coaching changes and scheduling. But she’s also just a 22-year-old woman trying to make the best of her career in the toughest of sports.

It’s important not to lose sight of the many challenges that athletes - particularly female - face while competing under a spotlight.

In 2022, a man was given a five-year restraining order against Raducanu after walking 23 miles to her home in London. The young Brit’s experiences unfortunately chime with those of Katie Boulter, Danielle Collins, Sloane Stephens to name a few. That’s not to mention the abusive online messages and pressure that players frequently receive, something that made Caroline Garcia take a career break last year.

While the rewards have never been greater for female tennis players, sadly, the extra attention continues to extract a high personal cost for women who just want to play a sport in the end.

Shifting onto the tennis results, it has been a wild week in the Middle East with big names dispatched while others find their groove before Indian Wells.

On the men’s side in Doha, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic could not take advantage of Jannik Sinner’s absence. The Spaniard lost an entertaining three-setter to the big-hitting Jiri Lehecka. That wasn’t an outrageous shock as the Czech started the year with a title in Brisbane and continues to close in on the ATP top 20.

As for Djokovic, he fell for the first time to Matteo Berrettini in their fifth meeting. I only saw highlights but it did look like the 24-time major winner struggled to consistently get power behind his strokes and defend as he once did in a 6-7 2-6 loss. We’ll find out more about his level in North America.

On the other side of success, Andrey Rublev and Jack Draper have got their seasons up and running in Doha. After that shock first round loss to Joao Fonseca in Melbourne, Rublev has put together some results in recent weeks and plays Felix Auger-Aliassime in today’s semi-final. Draper is also into the last four having not played since Melbourne.

Elsewhere, there’s some added pressure on Alexander Zverev at the Rio ATP 500 event on clay. Thanks to Lorenzo Musetti’s late withdrawal, the world no.2 is 25 places higher than the nearest player in the draw and should really win the title after reaching the last eight.

On the women’s side, there has been some carnage amongst the top players as Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff fell early in Dubai.

The world no.1 suffered a heavy loss (3-6 2-6) to Clara Tauson and said afterwards that she is “struggling.” Sabalenka also went out early in Doha to Ekaterina Alexandrova.

"I believe that I'm not that hungry on court. I'm kind of like all over the place in my thoughts and not consistent. The decisions I'm making on the court are a bit wrong, and emotionally, I'm not on my best," said Sabalenka.

Swiatek has also had a Middle Eastern swing to forget as she was dumped out 6-3 6-3 by Mirra Andreeva in Dubai after a tough loss to Jelena Ostapenko last week. The Pole said that scheduling was an issue: “For sure it's a calendar thing. Like, we're not going to be able to be consistent for many years playing week by week.”

Meanwhile, Hobart champion Mccartney Kessler knocked Gauff out in the second round thanks to a 6-4 7-5 scoreline. One player who has enjoyed a better week is actually Elena Rybakina. Despite the reports (mentioned below) about her former coach Stefano Vukov, the Kazakh has made it to the last four this week alongside Muchova, Andreeva and Tauson.

In this section, I dig out an image from my vault of photos taken at various tournaments on tour.

Michael Agwi practicing in Limerick

Last February, tennis took over Limerick as Ireland played Austria in the Davis Cup. While the home side fell 0-4 to a visiting team that included Dominic Thiem and Sebastian Ofner, the Irish players lit up the capacity crowd at the University of Limerick. The star of the show for Ireland was undoubtedly Michael Agwi (above), who competed so well in the singles.