Karolina Muchova revealed she wasn’t aware of what was happening until Emma Raducanu directly told her and that’s when the Czech started working on calming down the Briton.
After the 2023 French Open runner-up opened a 2-0 lead in their Dubai second-round match, the Briton abruptly stopped the action and went to the chair umpire.
At one point, the 22-year-old even hid behind the umpire’s chair – all of that was because she noticed a stalker in the stands.
After all parties realized why Raducanu was so distressed and crying, the tournament officials and security staff got to work to escort the person in question while Muchova hugged the Briton and offered some comforting words.
WTA explains why Emma Raducanu was in tears during her second-round match at the #DDFTennis.
A clip showed her explaining the situation to the umpire. Before hiding behind the umpire seat. https://t.co/hw1P1pEYAz pic.twitter.com/YuqfLO4odq
— Victor Okechukwu (@Uzochuwu1) February 19, 2025
Once the man was out of the stadium, the match resumed and the Czech went on to complete a 7-6 (6) 6-4 win.
Muchova: You don’t want to see these things happening to any woman, any girl
“Yeah, it was strange situation,” the Czech said about the incident after beating McCartney Kessler 6-3 1-6 7-6 (5) in the Dubai round-of-16.
“I honestly went for my serving. I didn’t even know something was happening. Then I saw she’s not on the other side.
“So I went to check with the referee what is happening. She told me what is happening.
“Yeah, obviously you don’t want to see these things to be happening to anyone, to any woman, any girl. So I was just trying to be there, maybe calm her down a little bit.
“I’m happy they solved it pretty fast. I think she was fine after a while. Then we just kept going with the match.”
After the incident, the WTA confirmed that Raducanu was met by a man who “showed a fixated behavior.”
The person in question has since been banned from attending any WTA tournaments.
Meanwhile, Raducanu broke her silence on Wednesday, thanking Muchova for “being a good sport” but also to everyone else who made sure she would stay safe.
Tennis World USA