MIAMI – Martina Hingis testified Monday that she is
frightened by an accused stalker who repeatedly has ignored her
pleas to leave her alone.
|  | | Dubravko Rajcevic reacts as Martina Hingis testifies Monday. Rajcevic is charged with stalking Hingis. |
Hingis acknowledged on cross-examination that Dubravko Rajcevic
never threatened her. But the world's top-ranked women's player
said she believes Rajcevic is crazy and irrational.
Rajcevic, 46, a Croatian-born Australian citizen, faces up to
four years in jail if convicted of stalking the Swiss player and
trespassing at the 2000 Ericsson Open near Miami. He told reporters
before his arrest that he loves Hingis and she loves him.
When defense attorney Frank Abrams asked if Rajcevic was
annoying, the 20-year-old Hingis answered: "More than that.
Frightening at times."
Interviewed after his arrest, she said she thought Rajcevic was
"maybe a little crazy." In court, she said she felt he was "more
crazy, I believe now."
Rajcevic grinned broadly through much of her testimony and spoke
out several times in violation of legal rules. "It must be love,"
the defendant blurted out when Hingis said he wouldn't stop ringing
the doorbell at her Zurich home.
After warnings in front of the jury, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge
Kevin Emas sent the jurors out and told Rajcevic that he would be
ejected from the courtroom if there were any more outbursts.
Rajcevic promised to remain silent but spoke up again later.
The warning generated a mistrial motion by the defense, but the
judge rejected it. He also refused to acquit Rajcevic for
insufficient evidence when the prosecution rested. The case was
expected to go to the jury Tuesday.
Rajcevic delivered flowers to Hingis' Zurich home and rang the
bell several times at her gate for four days in a row after the
1999 French Open. He also tried to contact her at three tournaments
and sent six handwritten love letters that Hingis knew of.
After the arrest, Hingis learned that Rajcevic had her address
at a Tampa Bay area resort where she has a second home.
"I was nervous, but it made me feel if he gets out he would
follow me," Hingis said. "He won't give up until he reaches his
goal." Asked later what she thought his goal was, Hingis said,
"To follow me every step I do."
She spoke to Rajcevic face to face only once in June 1999, on
the advice of her manager, Mario Widmer, when Rajcevic refused to
leave her gated home.
"I told him he should get out of my life," the tennis star
said. "I didn't want to talk with him anymore. I wouldn't want to
spend any time with him. I told him he should go away and get out
of my life. ...
"He was looking at me, smiling at me; but he was maybe looking
through me, he wouldn't accept what I was telling him."
When she learned he was at the Ericsson a year ago, she said,
"I couldn't believe it at first that he made that step, to follow
me across the Atlantic to watch me play."
A stalking conviction requires proof of substantial emotional
distress, but Hingis acknowledged she has not sought any
professional treatment for the anxiety she blames on Rajcevic. She
said 2000 was her second best season, the year Rajcevic spent in
jail.
Widmer testified that Rajcevic caused emotional distress in
Hingis, and it "got bigger and bigger" every month. "It had a
big impact on her emotional life."
Three psychological evaluations last July concluded Rajcevic was
delusional about Hingis but legally competent to stand trial.
The defense contends Rajcevic was legally pursuing a love
interest with no malicious intent.
"You were very clear with him. You weren't flirting with him?"
asked prosecutor Chris Calkin.
"No, not at all," Hingis replied.
Rajcevic took the stand in his defense against the advice of his
attorney and launched into rambling, sometimes comical remarks with
little prompting.
The jury broke into laughter when he finished one answer and
said to his attorney, "Mr. Abrams, you can continue. What's your
question?"
Rajcevic claimed he knew former President Clinton well and said
Hingis communicated with him through sports coverage on CNN and
Australia's Channel 7.
He called some of Hingis' testimony lies and said that though he
loved Hingis before, he couldn't say that after hearing what she
said on the stand.
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Officer testifies that Hingis' alleged stalker was 'deranged'
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Martina Hingis testifies against alleged stalker Dubravko Rajcevic.
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