Britain's Emma Raducanu has opened up on her shocking ordeal with a stalker at the Dubai Championships last month, admitting that the situation "could have been dealt with better".
Two games into her opening set against Karolína Muchová in the first-round of Dubai, Raducanu broke down in tears after she locked eyes with a persistent stalker in the stands.
Shortly after the disturbing development, the WTA released a statement, confirming that the alleged stalker would be "banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment".
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Speaking to Sky Sports upon her arrival at Indian Wells for the popular WTA 1000 event, the former US Open champion shed light on how she felt during the uncomfortable moment.
"I was obviously very distraught," she said. "I saw him in the first game of the match, and I was like, 'I don’t know how I’m going to finish'. I literally couldn’t see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe. I was like, 'I need to just take a breather here'.
"I was not on the court, to be honest, and I'm not really sure how I regrouped.
"I think all we can do is look at what happened and react to it in a better way, in a more positive way, rather than looking back and blaming the situation. It could have been dealt with better, but now it is being dealt with better, so for me that’s important."
The 22-year-old is set to meet Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in the opening round of Indian Wells.
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