A tennis match at the US Open ended up being briefly delayed after one of the players broke down upon seeing someone in the crowd.
Karolína Muchová has her Round of 16 match against Marta Kostyuk pencilled in for today (1 September), but a couple of matches ago she was thrown off her game by the appearance of her ex-boyfriend.
Down 4-1 in the first set and serving, Muchová became clearly upset as she started wiping away tears and gestured towards the crowd.
She apologised for the delay in play and later wiped her face with a towel before returning to the match, which she went on to win in three sets.
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Muchová claimed another three set victory a couple of days later (30 August) to get to the Round of 16, and she has since explained that the reason for her being distracted during her match was because of her ex showing up 'where he shouldn't be'.
According to The Athletic, the tennis player later explained at a press conference: "It wasn’t tennis-related.
"l don’t really like talking about it. But opposite my bench, my ex-boyfriend sat down. He sometimes shows up at places where he shouldn’t be.
"That startled me a bit. I told him to leave, he didn’t, but later he did go. It was hard to focus in that moment."
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Players can ask for certain people to be blacklisted from attending their matches but Muchová has not done so, and after her weekend win she said she was 'alright' and that 'everything is good'.
She didn't make a report about the incident and said she didn't know if something similar would happen again, but she did feel safe going onto the court at the US Open.
This is not the first time a tennis player has become distressed after spotting an unwelcome presence in the stands.
Muchová was actually on court playing against Emma Raducanu at the Dubai Tennis Championships when the 2021 US Open champion had a 'difficult experience' when she saw a man who had displayed 'fixated behaviour' towards her.
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Raducanu was left in tears and took shelter by the umpire's chair as she discussed the matter with officials.
Muchová had helped comfort her opponent in the moment and was called 'a great sport' by Raducanu for the way she'd handled things.
The man was eventually removed from the court and had reportedly approached Raducanu in public and given her a letter the day before that match. After being ejected from the match he later attempted to buy Wimbledon tickets but his name was flagged and he was prevented from doing so.
Topics: Sport, US News, Sex and Relationships
Joe Harker