The father of Venus and Serena Williams warned yesterday that professional tennis players are “sitting ducks” for crazies once they leave the U.S. Open.
His daughter Serena has been the unwilling object of desire for deranged German Albrecht Stromeyer.
“Once the players leave the stadium, they’re sitting ducks. They don’t take security seriously at all,” Richard Williams told The Post.
On Saturday, uniformed NYPD cops nabbed Stromeyer, 34, at a chain-link fence where he was watching Serena – the top women’s player in the world – at practice on the tournament grounds in Flushing Meadows.
It was the third time the son of a wealthy German banker has been busted for stalking the leggy star. Earlier this year, he was arrested at Wimbledon and in Scottsdale, Ariz., while stalking Serena.
Most players seem to believe they can keep a low profile in bars, restaurants and on city sidewalks, but Richard Williams disagrees.
“I don’t think you can keep a low profile,” he said. “In a system where everyone watches TV or reads the papers, if you’re famous, you have to have security.”
He admitted Serena and Venus “don’t take the issue as seriously as they should,” but he insisted on bodyguards for both – and himself.
“It’s foolish for the top stars not to have security. Hell, I can’t go anywhere – even when I’m having a piss at McDonald’s,” the tennis patriarch said.
Stromeyer, who has proclaimed his love for Serena, is being held in lieu of $3,000 bail at Rikers Island. There’s an immigration detainer against him, and he makes his first court appearance tomorrow.