'Be better': Emma Raducanu slams paparazzi after a creepy experience

Wednesday, 03 December 2025 at 18:00

byAyush Vashistha

Emma Raducanu condemned the paparazzi after a recent unsettling experience.

Ever since Raducanu created history by becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam at the US Open in 2022, she has remained in the spotlight. Earlier this year, she was chased by a fixated individual in Dubai.

She was reduced to tears during her match against Karolina Muchova. She reported the individual to the chair umpire and didn’t resume playing until the individual was removed from the stands. The turn of events did affect her mental composure as she ended up losing in straight sets.

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Emma Raducanu’s stalker, who was given a restraining order 3 years ago, was JUST kicked out of her Dubai Open match for ‘fixated behaviour.’ Despite the shock, the 22-year-old showed incredible determination to play on. No one should go through this.♥️

10:30 AM · Feb 19, 2025

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In a recent interview with The Guardian, Raducanu revealed that she has put the incident behind her and moved on.

However, she recently faced another disturbing episode with the paparazzi, who reported her friend as her boyfriend in a tabloid story by distorting pictures of the two together.

"Honestly, I have gotten over it. What did creep me out was I saw a photo of myself in London, and I didn’t see the paps. I was with my two best friends. This happened last week, and it was some tabloid article saying I had a new boyfriend or whatever. But it’s literally my best friend’s brother."

"I was like: ‘Come on, guys. Come on. Be better. This is not.’ I was with my best friend’s brother, and we were going to the rugby. And of course, they cropped my best friend out. It was just me and this guy, and I just didn’t see the paps. So that’s obviously creepy. You know, when you’re like: 'I didn't see them. How did they take this photo?’ But other than that, I feel good because someone’s always watching my back."

- Emma Raducanu

Nevertheless, the Briton has stopped the practice of walking going out with her head down to avoid getting recognised. She joked that the decision has improved her posture.

"Now I don’t. My neck doesn’t hurt as much. I’m not looking down as much. Better posture. But I’m like: ‘OK, what? Are they going to see me on the tube?’ It’s not a bad thing."

Emma Raducanu to start new season at United Cup

Emma Raducanu will kick off her 2026 season at the United Cup in Australia. She will represent Great Britain in the mixed team event alongside compatriots Jack Draper, Billy Harris, Lloyd Glasspool, Mingge Xu and Olivia Nicholls.

The event will run from January 2 to 11, with 18 countries competing for glory. The teams have been split across six groups. Great Britain is in Group E with Greece and Japan, and the three nations will compete in the round-robin stage in Perth.

Raducanu will start her first full season with the renewed team that saw Spanish Francisco Roig walk in as coach and Emma Stewart taking over the strength and conditioning. Roig has previously worked with 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal.