"I don’t know how she did that": Former British number one credits Emma Raducanu for competing in Dubai despite facing challenging situation

Emma Raducanu has been credited by former Britain’s number one Samantha Smith for continuing to play despite facing an odd incident in Dubai. The 22-year-old recently participated in the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships, where she was knocked out after losing in the second round to Karolina Muchova in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-4.

During the contest, Raducanu faced an odd situation as she had to deal with a stalker. At one stage, she was forced to stand behind the chair umpire, leaving the court in tears. The person responsible for the odd situation was given a restraint order from the authorities in Dubai, and Raducanu dropped the charges.

This is not the first time the former world number 10 faced such a situation as she had to deal with another stalker back in 2022. Former Britain’s number one player Smith has spoken to Sky Sports where she praised Raducanu for continuing to compete despite facing an uneasy situation.

“I was horrified,” she said as quoted by Tennis 365. “Credit to Emma. You would never know what she had been through with the way she was playing and competing. I don’t know how she did that. Emma had the presence of mind to stop, talk to the umpire. It looked as if the tournament reacted very quickly, so did the WTA and the person was removed very quickly. They did everything they could possibly do to make sure Emma was as protected as possible, certainly in a physical sense, but psychologically it was difficult for her to continue and play the match. I’ve never experienced it myself but even for a minor incident in the crowd, for example if someone is unwell or there’s a disturbance, it can be hard. Tennis players are trained to switch on and off but I don’t think anyone is built psychologically to cope with what Emma had to cope with in Dubai, and having to get over that in future matches.”