Man who pursued Hingis convicted of stalking

Frances Kerry

A man who said he loved Martina Hingis and wanted to woo her was convicted of stalking on Tuesday by a Miami jury after he followed the tennis star to tournaments, hung around outside her home and sent her flowers, letters and faxes.

Croatian-born Dubravko Rajcevic was found guilty by the jury in a Miami-Dade County court on one count of stalking and three counts of trespassing. He was arrested during last year's Ericsson Open tournament at Key Biscayne near Miami and has been in jail since then on a $2 million bond.

The four misdemeanour charges each carry a maximum sentence of one year. Judge Kevin Emas set a sentencing hearing for later this week.

Rajcevic, a 46-year-old naval architect who is an Australian citizen, argued during several hours of testimony at his trial that he had meant no harm in trying to woo Hingis, the world's number 1-ranked woman tennis player.

HINGIS HIRED BODYGUARD

His defence lawyer, Frank Abrams, portrayed Rajcevic's persistent pursuit from early 1999 to the time he was arrested last year as a sad tale of unrequited love.

But the prosecution said Rajcevic's behaviour had made the 20-year-old Swiss player fearful and had forced her at one point to hire a full-time bodyguard.

Hingis testified in court on Monday, saying she had made plain to Rajcevic she was not interested in a relationship and had been worried that his obsession might turn to "hate and aggression".

Psychological evaluations last year concluded that while Rajcevic was delusional about Hingis he was mentally competent to stand trial.

Rajcevic was first arrested during the Ericsson tournament last year and held on $1,000 bond but he posted the money and returned to the stadium with a ticket, although he had been barred by police. He was arrested again and held on a $2 million bond.

The Rajcevic case revived memories of a stalking that turned violent and shocked the tennis world in April 1993, when the then No. 1-ranked woman, Monica Seles, was stabbed by a fan obsessed with her rival Steffi Graf.

PRISONER OF LOVE?

Rajcevic insisted in testimony earlier on Tuesday that he had not been a threat to Hingis, but had simply fallen for her after his marriage broke up and he was looking for someone new.

"Is there something wrong if I want to marry Martina Hingis. Is that wrong?" the defendant asked during cross-examination that was often interrupted by laughter in the court as Rajcevic sparred with prosecutor Christopher Calkin over his choice of words, called out instructions to his lawyer and jumped up from his seat.

"Plenty of people get divorced, look for someone else ... I tried with Martina Hingis," Rajcevic said, adding that at some point he thought Hingis "felt something for me."

But in his closing arguments, Calkin said that Rajcevic had failed to heed the word "stop" from Hingis and her entourage, and that love was not an excuse for his behaviour.

In court on Monday, Hingis said she told him plainly she was not interested in a relationship when he got through one time on the phone to her Paris hotel room in June 1999 and another time when she decided to confront him personally at the gate of her Zurich home, where he had appeared repeatedly asking to see her.

"I told him to get out of my life," Hingis said.