Raducanu's coach's edifying testimony on the stalker arrested in Dubai: "He followed her to Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai".

Emma Raducanu had a special week in Dubai, being confronted by an individual who had been stalking her since the start of the tournament.

However, the facts would be even more serious than one could imagine, since the man in question had been following the Briton for almost a month and the Singapore tournament, as her coach Roman Kelecic explained for the Croatian media Net :

"This man followed her to Singapore, Abu Dhabi, where I was with her, then to Doha and Dubai, where we noticed her.

At first we thought he was a fan, because Emma is a real tennis star with a huge fan base.

To the point where he got physically close to her, he started taking selfies and then hugging her."

Raducanu was reportedly approached by the individual on Monday in a Dubai restaurant, while she was alone, without her team around her :

"It was the only time in the month that the bodyguard and I weren't with her. This man was assessing the situation and looking for the best moment to get close to her.

He had a strategy and it was terrifying. He had thought it all out, planned it all. We reported this incident on the evening and morning of her match."

With a front-row seat when the incident happened on the Dubai court, Kelecic recounts:

"Three or four hours before she played, we got a photo of this stalker. Not just us, but also tournament security, who know who this man is.

In the first game, two points are played and Emma shows us something. We didn't know what it was. She loses the first game, runs to us and shouts 'He's here, he's here'.

For me, at that moment, Emma's safety was more important than the result. After the match, she broke down in tears."