Sally Bolton, CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, assures fans and players that Wimbledon’s security is tighter than ever. This follows the recent incident where a stalker, banned from approaching Emma Raducanu, was caught trying to buy tickets.
With the tournament set to take place from June 23 to June 26 at the Wimbledon Community Sport Centre in Roehampton, safety remains their top priority, nothing will slip past their watchful eyes.
“We’re liaising with the tours, with the Met Police, with other security agencies right through the year to think about the types of risks we need to look at and adjusting what we put in place.
“I would say to them [players] they should have confidence when they’re here and if they are concerned on any basis they should come and talk to us about that because we can put bespoke arrangements in place.”
In February, Raducanu was shaken when a man approached her outside her Dubai hotel, handed her a letter, and took a photo without permission. She remembered spotting him before, at her matches in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.
The 22-year-old told someone on her team, but they dismissed it, worried they might be overreacting and never reported it to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Then, during her match against Karolina Muchova, she spotted the same man just a few rows from the front. Terrified, she ran to the umpire’s chair in tears, halting the match as security swiftly removed him for “exhibited behavior.”
He was taken into custody by the Dubai police and was given a restraining order, and his name was circulated among tennis authorities.
During the post-match interview, Raducanu told reporters that she didn’t know what to do as she started crying, she was scared for her life, as she had seen this man multiple times during her previous matches.
“I was very distraught.
“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.”
Raducanu sat down with BBC Sport after the Dubai incident, and she expressed that she regretted how everything unfolded and that she could have handled the matter a little bit better.
“Could have been dealt with better, but that lessons have been learned.
“Since that incident, I have received increased attention and greater security.
“I’m always now very aware and not necessarily doing things on my own anymore.
“I’m always with someone and always being watched.”
This is not the first time Raducanu has been stalked. In 2022, Amrit Magar walked 23 miles to Emma Raducanu’s house on three occasions, loitered outside, stole property from her porch, and left gifts and cards.
