SPECTATOR REMOVED AT RADUCANU GAME FOR ‘FIXATED BEHAVIOUR’

The world’s number one female tennis player has said she’ll “be okay” after an incident at a tennis tournament in Dubai yesterday.

Emma Raducanu became visibly upset during a game at the Dubai Tennis Championships after seeing a man in the first few rows.

The incident happened on the court while the British player and her opponent, Karolina Muchova were in the second game of their match.

Raducanu could be seen approaching the umpire and then hiding behind the umpire’s chair. Soon after, the umpire announced that the game had been suspended temporarily and that she’d be calling another official to assist with a matter.

Muchova then went over to Raducanu where she was hiding and consoled her.

The man was removed by security.

According to reports, the same man approached her with a letter the day before outside the hotel where she was staying in Dubai.

He has been banned from all WTA matches for "fixated behaviour".

On Wednesday, Raducanu took to Instagram and shared this message: “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.”

Raducanu composed herself after the incident and finished the game. She lost to Muchova.

In her post, she added: “Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament.”

Image credit: Tennis World USA