Rezai turns to police over fathers death threats

09 June 2011 04:30

French tennis player Aravane Rezai has filed a complaint against her father for "harassment, intentional violence and death threats", a police source revealed on Thursday.

The complaint was made by the 24-year-old world number 52 last week at a police station in Boulogne-Billancourt on the outskirts of Paris.

According to the Le Parisien daily, Rezai also accused her father, Arsalan, of "swindling tens of thousands of euros", but the police source interviewed by AFP said there was "no evidence" to support this aspect of the complaint.

The prosecutor in Nanterre must now decide whether the case should be transferred to Saint-Etienne, where Rezai's family resides, or treated where the complaint was originally filed.

Rezai, who is of Iranian descent, severed contact with her family after falling out with her father in January.

Arsalan Rezai has been involved in numerous incidents affecting his daughter in recent years, earning him fines or exclusions from tournaments.

At the Australian Open in January, the WTA said one of Rezai's relatives had been suspended indefinitely from tour events without giving details.

Le Parisien reported at the time that the incident involved a violent altercation between Rezai's father and her boyfriend.

Source: AFP