Emma Raducanu’s part-time coach Roman Kelecic has shared more scary details about the Emma Raducanu stalking incident, revealing that the Briton’s stalker followed her across four tournaments and waited for a perfect moment to approach the Briton.
After the 22-year-old started crying just two games into her Dubai second-round match against Karolina Muchova and had a spectator escorted out of the stadium, it was revealed that that same person made a contact with her a day earlier and had a letter for her.
Now, Kelecic – who worked with the British player during her junior days and also joined her during some of her recent events after Nick Cavaday left her team – shares it was more than just a letter.
According to the Croatian coach, Raducanu left her hotel room that evening to go for a solo dinner at a nearby restaurant at the tournament’s site.
That’s when she was approached by a man, who started taking photos of her, hugging her and just engaging in a behavior that made the 2021 US Open champion feel very worried.
After she called her team members and they arrived, the stalker left.
Kelecic: It’s terrifying how much he thought about it and planned it
“That was the only moment in a month where I, the fitness coach, the security guard who was with us, was not with her at that moment,” the Croatian coach told local publication net.hr.
“So that man was assessing the situation and looking for the best moment to get closer to her. He had a strategy that was terrifying, he thought everything through, calculated it.
“It’s terrifying how much he, in essence, thought about it all and planned it. His strategy worked and it was to get closer to her.
“That evening we reported it immediately and again in the morning, when she was playing the match, because her safety is the most important thing to us.”
In the same interview, Kelecic revealed that Raducanu saw the same man in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
After the incident, the Dubai police hit the stalker with a restraining order but he avoided charges after the 22-year-old decided to drop them.
Tennis World USA