“I literally couldn’t see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe.” Emma Raducanu had to go through a nightmarish experience last month in Dubai. While her poor form in 2025 was an issue, it became an afterthought as a stalker ended up entering the stadium in her R32 match with Karolina Muchova. Per WTA’s statement, he “exhibited fixated behavior.” While the culprit was later arrested and banned from future events, Raducanu was left in shivers. The Brit, however, seems to have gone past that harrowing experience and has secured back-to-back victories in the ongoing Miami Open, but those were few days. How did she come out of that phase?
Raducanu has had a poor season so far. After a disappointing run in the Australian Open down under, she failed at the Singapore Open, Abu Dhabi Open, and the Qatar Open too. In all these events, she was ousted in the first round. Then came the Dubai Tennis Championships where she managed to clinch a first-round victory. But only to be beaten by Karolina Muchova in the second round. More than the result, however, the stalking incident affected her mentally. As it turned out, a man was following her throughout the event before deciding to attend one of her matches.
Later, Raducanu shared a message to all those who stood by her and extended their support. “Thank you for the messages of support. Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be okay and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match. Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament,” she wrote on IG.
After winning her second straight encounter in Miami, defeating Emma Navarro in R64 on Friday, she once again touched upon that disturbing incident while explaining how she left it behind to shine on the court. In a press conference, dated March 21, she revealed, “Yeah, I don’t think it’s been an easy couple of months. I have had a lot going on on and off the court.”
Raducanu is also facing a bit of a coaching turmoil right now. The Brit recently parted ways with her seventh coach Vlado Platenik in the last three years. Platenik was serving as an interim trainer after her former coach Nick Cavaday left in January. Reflecting on that, the 2021 US Open winner added, “I think my goal is to just get to a place where I feel a lot more set and stable with my surroundings. This week I have amazing people who have known me for a very long time. I feel very secure and happy and wanting to fight for them, as well.”
Raducanu also talked about her newfound “energy” on the court after that unforgettable incident in Dubai. She remarked, “It’s a really nice feeling. It has been quite emotional, and, you know, it’s taken a lot out of me. But I’m just so happy to be, like, fighting here, and all the wins here just give me extra fuel, extra energy.”
While Raducanu has got back to winning ways, her job is far from done in Miami. Considering how the season has gone for her so far, she will need to put in extra effort going into her next match.
Emma Raducanu looks to make a deep run in Miami Open
Emma Raducanu‘s campaign in Miami this time is quite special. Why so? It’s because her record at the event historically has been forgettable, to say the least. She never went past the first round before this year. In this edition though, she’s already won the first two matches, moving into the third round. Even she acknowledged it, drawing parallels to her US Open victory back in 2021.
After beating Emma Navarro in a crunch R64 battle, with a score line of 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(3), the Brit said, “Yeah, it was a lot of emotions when I won” “I know I won the US Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it’s like the wins now mean so much more.”
Now, Raducanu will need to play at a similar level against her R32 opponent, America’s McCartney Kessler. The two players will meet for the first time on Sunday. While Raducanu is coming off an emphatic win over Navarro, Kessler beat Czechia’s Linda Noskova after being one set down in Round of 64.
What’s your prediction for this upcoming face-off? Will Raducanu make it three in three at the Miami Open? Or will Kessler move forward? Let us know in the comments below.
The post “Been Quite Emotional” – Emma Raducanu Flips the Script After Dubai Trauma to Rediscover Herself at Miami Open appeared first on EssentiallySports.
