Women’s tennis star and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu spoke openly about an incident at last month’s Dubai Tennis Championships, when she had to stop playing after discovering a man who had been stalking her was in the crowd. Raducanu will return to competition at Indian Wells, where she will have enhanced security for her personal safety.

During Raducanu’s second-round match at Dubai, an unexplained stoppage occurred when Raducanu approached the umpire’s chair after the second game, saying a few words before standing in the space between the back of the official’s chair and barrier netting adjacent to Court 2. Raducanu became distressed due to the presence of a man who had been exhibiting “fixated behavior” toward her in the first few rows of the stands. The man approached her twice in public in Dubai and was also present at her matches in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha in weeks prior.

The man was ejected from the match and detained by Dubai police. Though Raducanu elected to drop charges against him, the individual in question has been banned from all WTA tournaments.

“I was obviously very distraught,” Raducanu told reporters in Indian Wells. “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.'”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Raducanu has dealt with stalkers. As a teenager, Raducanu was stalked at her family home in London by a 35-year-old man who was later arrested and had a five-year restraining order issued against him. After this latest incident, Raducanu took a week off from tennis, explaining she had been going through an “emotional time” and now feels much better.

Raducanu, who eventually lost her match in Dubai 7-6 (6), 6-4, is set to play Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in the first round at Indian Wells. A victory would advance her to a match against third-seeded Coco Gauff.