Capriati 'punched ex four times'

Jennifer Capriati ... took to Twitter to defend herself against allegations. Source: Art Seitz / AAP

Former tennis world No.1 Jennifer Capriati is facing battery charges and possible arrest after being accused of stalking and punching an ex-boyfriend on Valentine's Day.

Capriati, a three-time grand slam champion who won 14 titles and earned gold at the 1992 Olympics, had an altercation with Ivan Brannan at a gym in North Palm Beach, Florida on February 14, the local police department said.

While Brannan was working out, Capriati, 36, "started screaming'' at him before punching him "with a closed fist four times in the chest'', a police report said.

A yoga instructor then stopped her from continuing to punch Brannan and the 28-year-old managed to lock himself in the men's locker room and call 911.

Brannan had red marks on his chest from the incident, according to the police report.

Brannan, who dated 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 her.

A publicist for Capriati, Natalie Mikolich, said: "the current facts being circulated by Mr Brannan are an over-exaggeration and the police report is one-sided in Mr Brannan's favour since they failed to get Ms Capriati's side of the story."

Capriati also took to Twitter herself to defend herself.

"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.

Capriati was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame last year but her career was overshadowed by personal problems, including incidents of shoplifting and drugs, and she struggled with weight problems.

She was charged with cannabis possession in 1994 and spent time in a drug rehabilitation clinic before struggling to return to the game.

In 2010, she survived a suspected suicide attempt following a prescription drug overdose.

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