Rafael Nadal's sister stalked by man who 'wanted to taste her blood' but avoids jail

A deranged man who confessed to stalking retired tennis legend Rafael Nadal's sister has avoided prison after being sentenced to a suspended jail sentence. A Spanish court was told that Sebastian Moll McCarthy made numerous trips to the Majorcan tennis academy that the two-time Wimbledon champion's younger sibling, Maribel, helps run, and flooded the 36-year-old with unwanted phone calls and menacing messages after obtaining her mobile number.

One message read: "I won't be able to love you again, I'm going to hurt you." In another of the disturbing texts, which were frequently sent during the night, he wrote about wanting to taste the 36-year-old victim's blood. The Spanish judge who officially convicted German citizen Moll McCarthy after he pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain arrangement, described his telephone calls to Nadal's sister as "multiple and incessant".

Manuel Nunez Jimenez, in a five-page judgement written last week following the plea agreement at a court in the Majorcan town of Manacar, stated: "Those calls to the victim's mobile and her work centre, made with the intention of establishing some sort of contact with her against her will, restricted her personal freedom and left her feeling anguish and unrest over a period of time.

"It seriously affected her both on a personal and professional level to the point that she had always had to be accompanied, sometimes by her dad and sometimes by a friend and other times by security personnel at the tennis centre, both to and from work and on any other daily activity.

"This seriously affected her health and caused her repeated episodes of anxiety out of fear of suffering a physical or sexual attack as a result of the obsession the accused showed towards her."

Public prosecutors had sought a six-month jail term for the German expat upon conviction, along with a three-year restraining order.

He appeared "every day" at Rafael Nadal's tennis training centre in his hometown of Manacor, where Maribel serves as deputy general manager, according to the court ruling.

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The sentencing judge revealed: "Sometimes he claimed to be a tennis player and others an athlete at the centre."

Besides threatening to harm 22-times Grand Slam champion Rafa's sister, who reported him to authorities, Moll McCarthy also messaged her: "We can go for a stroll tonight or in a month and afterwards, I think something may change and we can begin something more solid."

He was found guilty of harassment after admitting his behaviour.

The judge explained he was suspending the prison sentence because he had no prior convictions in Spain and had acknowledged his wrongdoing. Imposing a four-month suspended prison term, the judge also determined his conduct didn't demonstrate he was "dangerous" and that it was "reasonable" to believe he wouldn't commit further offences.

However, the judge cautioned the convicted stalker that he risked being sent directly to jail if he breached the law again within the following two years.

Alongside the four-month suspended prison term, Moll McCarthy received a two-year restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting Maribel Nadal or approaching within 300 metres of her residence or workplace.

Rafael Nadal hung up his racket at 38 following his appearance for Spain in the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

The tennis legend, now father to two children, confessed in February that he hadn't touched a tennis racket since stepping away from the sport last November.

Maribel represents one of the three pivotal women in his life alongside his mother Ana Maria Parera and his wife Mery Perello.