LONDON: Former tennis world number one Jennifer Capriati has been accused of stalking and punching her ex-boyfriend until he had to run and hide in a men's locker room at a gym, reported Sky News.

The three-time Grand Slam champion allegedly punched Ivan Brannan "with a closed fist four times in the chest" at a gym in Florida on Valentine’s Day while he was working out.

According to a police report, a yoga instructor had to stop a screaming Capriati from hitting Brannan, who fled to the changing room, locked himself in and called 911.

Brannan, 28, a former Florida State University golfer, had red marks on his chest from the incident, the police report said.              

It added that while filling out an affidavit, "his hands were physically shaking ... it was very apparent that he was in fear of physical harm".

Brannan, who dated 36-year-old Capriati from May 2011 to February 2012, told police that Capriati began harassing and stalking him shortly after the couple broke up.

He also later brought officers documentation of seven other altercations with the former tennis star, who won 14 titles and won gold at the 1992 Olympics.

The North Palm Beach Police Department in Florida subsequently requested an arrest warrant for Capriati, though it has not yet been issued by the court.

A publicist for Capriati issued a statement on Friday stressing that the case "has not yet been assigned in Palm Beach County and has not been reviewed."

"The current facts being circulated by Brannan are an over-exaggeration and the police report is one-sided in  Brannan's favor since they failed to get Capriati's side of the story," Natalie Mikolich said in a statement.

Capriati took to Twitter herself to defend her behavior.

"I pushed a man that was verbally assaulting me away from me. This man has been tormenting and abusing me for so long. The truth will prevail," she wrote.

- mD