According to Dubai police.
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A man who showed a “fixed behavior” towards British tennis player Emma Raducanu during a tournament in Dubai was detained and received a restriction prescription, police announced on Thursday. A clearly upset Raducanu, 22, approached the referee’s chair after losing the first two games in his defeat in the second round against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Raducanu briefly took refuge behind the referee’s chair and alerted officials from the presence of man before being led.
Dubai police relax Raducanu ‘Fan’
Muchova rushed to comfort Raducanu before the game resumed.
The man had approached Raducanu, the Champion of the US Open of 2021, in a public zone on Monday and gave him a letter and took a photo before taking a seat on the field in the first lines of his match on Tuesday.
“Following the complaint of Raducanu, the Dubai police arrested a tourist who approached him, left him a note, took his photo and embarked on a behavior that caused him distress,” the police said in a statement.
“While Raducanu later chose to remove the charges, the individual signed an official company to maintain the distance of her and was prohibited from future tournaments.”
The WTA had already said that it would prohibit man “of all WTA events”.
On Wednesday, Raducanu thanked fans for their support after what she called “difficult experience” and said “I’m fine”.
