"I'm happy he's in jail... He'll go straight back to prison if he comes near me again" - When Martina Hingis rued her 'unpleasant' ordeal with stalker
Martina Hingis once shed light on her harrowing experience of being followed by a stalker. The Swiss expressed her relief at his prison sentence, disclosing that he could no longer approach her without risking imprisonment.
Hingis rose to tennis stardom with her extraordinary success as a teenager, winning five Grand Slam singles titles by the age of 18. However, her meteoric rise came with its challenges, as Dubravko Rajcevic, a middle-aged naval architect from Australia, began stalking her.
Rajcevic started following the Swiss star in 1999, trailing her from one tournament to another, loitering outside her house in Zurich and repeatedly ringing her doorbell. The distressing situation left Hingis so afraid for her safety that she hired a bodyguard for protection.
The Croatian-born Australian was eventually arrested for stalking and trespassing during the 2000 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Martina Hingis testified against Rajcevic in a Miami-Dade County court, admitting that he had "frightened" her. The 46-year-old was found guilty on one count of stalking and three counts of trespassing, receiving a two-year prison sentence.
In a 2001 interview with the Guardian, Hingis rued her "unpleasant" ordeal and expressed relief that Rajcevic was incarcerated.
"That was unpleasant. I'm happy that he's in jail. And they made a "stay away" order, so he'll go straight back to prison if he comes near me again," Hingis said.
The Swiss also conveyed her regret about the situation escalating to such an extent, lamenting Rajcevic's refusal to sign a legal document promising to leave her alone.
Despite her harrowing experience, Martina Hingis showed compassion for Rajcevic, hoping that he would receive the necessary treatment in prison to overcome his stalking proclivities.
"I never thought it would go that far. He always had the option to just sign the paper (promising to leave her alone), and he would have been out of prison within two weeks. I hope they give him treatment in prison," she added.
Martina Hingis: "We attract these strange people, girls in short skirts, the highest paid women's sport"
Martina Hingis went on to say that her biggest worry had been about Dubravko Rajcevic potentially hurting her loved ones when he realized he couldn't win her affection.
"It was, like, OK, he might be in love with me, but if he can't get that thing he wants, where are his limits? He might hurt people just to get close to me," she said.
The Swiss also suggested that playing tennis in "short skirts" made female players targets for stalkers, bemoaning that it was yet another restriction preventing players from enjoying a normal life.
"Well, I guess we attract these strange people. Girls in short skirts - the highest paid women's sport - the profile. It's become so much bigger, more global, like showbusiness but it's another restriction, another thing to stop you living a normal life," she added.
Martina Hingis' assertion about female tennis players attracting "strange people" rings true, as the likes of Maria Sharapova, Danielle Collins and Emma Raducanu have also had to endure threatening situations with stalkers.