Hingis stalker found guilty

Dubravko Rajcevic is escorted from court after being convicted swissinfo.ch

A man who became infatuated with the Swiss tennis star, Martina Hingis, has been found guilty of stalking her by a court in Miami.

Croatian-born Dubravko Rajcevic was also convicted on three counts of trespassing. The court heard that he had followed the world number one to tennis tournaments, had hung around outside her Zurich home, and sent her flowers, letters and faxes.

Rajcevic, who is an Australian citizen, was arrested at last year’s Ericsson Open tournament in Key Biscayne, near Miami, having previously been barred from attending by police.

The 46-year-old naval engineer, who maintained throughout the trial that he meant no harm to the 20-year-old tennis player, is due to be sentenced later this week.

In her testimony, Hingis told the court how Rajcevic’s behaviour, which had begun in early 1999, had made her fear for her safety and had even forced her to hire a bodyguard at one point.

She said she had feared his obsession might turn to “hate and aggression” and even suggested that the pressure might have contributed to her first round exit at the 1999 Wimbledon tennis championships.

The court also heard how Hingis once confronted her stalker at the gates of her Zurich home, where he repeatedly turned up asking to see her.

In his testimony, Rajcevic insisted that he had never been a threat to Hingis but had merely fallen for her after his marriage broke up.

“Plenty of people get divorced, look for someone else … I tried with Martina Hingis,” he said.

Previous psychological evaluations revealed that Rajcevic was delusional about Hingis but fit to stand trial.

swissinfo with agencies