Emma Raducanu Comments on Spectator Removed from Dubai Match for 'Fixated' Behavior

Emma Raducanu is in Indian Wells, California, for the 2025 BNP Paribas Open and her first tournament since a spectator was removed from one of her matches in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last month for "exhibiting fixated behavior toward her," per Matthew Futterman of The Athletic.

"I'm here because I feel a lot better now," she said, per Futterman.

She publicly discussed the situation for the first time ahead of the tournament and said, "I was obviously very distraught. I saw him first game of the match, and I was like: 'I don’t know how I'm going to finish.'"

Raducanu ended up losing her second-round match against Karolina Muchová and said, "I literally couldn't see the ball through the tears, I could barely breathe."

Futterman noted Dubai authorities released a statement that said the person "approached her, left her a note, took her photograph, and engaged in behaviour that caused her distress."

There will be two tournament security workers with her at almost all times during the tournament in Indian Wells after the incident in Dubai and another one in 2022 when a man showed up at her family home in London.

The men from both incidents were given restraining orders.

"In Dubai, I was alone and in a different country, so I felt a lot more, I guess, vulnerable," Raducanu said.

Raducanu will face Moyuka Uchijima in the round of 128 in Indian Wells on Thursday and will then go against No. 3 seed Coco Gauff in the round of 64 if she prevails in her first match. 

The furthest she has advanced in Indian Wells in the past is the round of 16 in 2023. She reached the round of 32 last year.