A coach who was with Emma Raducanu in Dubai has claimed the man who was given a restraining order had been following her from tournament to tournament since Singapore.
In her second round match in Dubai Raducanu was brought to tears by the sight of a man in the crowd.
It emerged that this individual had been showing signs of ‘fixated behaviour’ and had already approached her once that week.
And now Roman Kelecic, who has been helping Raducanu on a temporary basis while she looks for a new permanent coach, has given an interview to a Croatian website.
‘This man followed her to Singapore, to Abu Dhabi – where I was with her – again in Doha, now in Dubai and we noticed him,’ Kelecic told Croatian outlet Net.
‘Initially we thought he was a fan… until he got physically close to her, started having contact in the form of selfies, hugging.’
Emma Raducanu broke down in tears during her second-round match in Dubai on Tuesday
A coach has claimed a man had been following Raducanu from tournament to tournament
Raducanu broke her silence on the incident with an Instagram Story post on Wednesday
Kelecic says that when the first approach occurred in Dubai ‘that was the only moment in a month where I, the fitness coach, the security guard who was with us, was not with her.
‘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.’
Raducanu’s team have been approached for comment.