Caption: Monica Seles, the top-ranked women’s player at the time, was stabbed in the back in 1993 by a Steffi Graf fan during a changeover at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany. She stayed off court for two years and never really returned to the peak of her career until she retired.
Jesper Andreassen held up a plate of 10 jalapeños for the camera, then stuffed them into his mouth, one by one, proudly tossing each stem over his shoulder as he finished.
He paused several times to curse, laugh, cough or shout, sounds that devolved into a series of pained growls as he neared the end. Once the last pepper had been consumed, Andreassen, a middle-aged Dane, thanked the viewer for watching. The clip, which Andreassen posted to Facebook in August, had one person as its target audience: Simona Halep, a Romanian tennis player who has been given the nickname Halepeño.
For months, Andreassen had tried to prove his devotion to Halep online, addressing her in a barrage of flattering posts on Twitter. But in April, after seeing a rumour that Halep was planning to marry, Andreassen changed his tone. He became threatening and demeaning, telling Halep that she would die or never walk again for mistreating him.
Halep, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, was playing at a tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, when the threats surfaced, and security officials there were immediately briefed.
Twenty-two years after Monica Seles, the top-ranked women’s player at the time, was stabbed in the back by a Steffi Graf fan during a changeover at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, many female tennis players say personal security remains an unsettling aspect of life on the professional tour. Officials with the Women’s Tennis Association, the worldwide governing body, say they continue to make the security of tour …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
