A Filipino-Canadian tennis ace, who also holds an Australian citizenship, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail for molesting three women and punching one of them.

Francis Lawrence Del Rosario, aged 30, was with a friend at a club in Clarke Quay on March 30 this year, at about midnight, when he committed the offences.

Within a span of about two hours, the professional tennis player cum coach grabbed the buttocks of three women, aged 20 to 28.

Rosario faced a fourth charge of punching the 28-year-old woman after she confronted him about outraging her modesty.

The defence said Rosario is a first-time offender and the incidents occurred after he had one too many drinks.

The defence also said Rosario is remorseful, has apologised to the women and made total compensation of more than S$1,100 to two victims.

The court ordered two of the sentences to run consecutively, making the total punishment a two-week jail term.

According to a report outlining the incident, a female customer at a Clarke Quay restaurant-bar was drunk and unsteady, so a server decided to help her out of the nightspot.

The female server, 22, was so concerned about the customer’s safety, she decided to keep her company outside.

Then the server felt someone grab her right buttock. She turned around and saw a man pulling his hand back.

The court was told that the server confronted Rosario after he grabbed her and asked: “Who are you to grab my *** and touch me?”

He pointed at her and replied sarcastically: “Do you think you are pretty?”

He then pushed her and said loudly: “You are ****ing ugly.”

When the man continued pushing her, she grabbed his shirt and told him to stop touching her. But he pulled her hair and punched her.

A bouncer from the restaurant-bar and another customer saw Rosario punching the server. Two bouncers then restrained him and the police were called.

Just before Rosario assaulted the server, he had done the same thing to her colleague, a 28-year-old guest relations officer.

The guest relations officer was standing at the bar waiting for drinks to be prepared so she could serve them to customers when she felt someone touch her buttock.

She turned around and saw Rosario walking away quickly. She didn’t go after him but told the bartender about it before carrying on with her work.

Rosario’s indecent act was caught on CCTV.

The tennis player, was in Singapore to play in a tournament and also work as a coach.

An online search showed that he played in the qualifiers of the Singapore ATP Challenge on Feb 27. He is also listed as a tennis coach for a company in Canada.

In mitigation, Rosario’s lawyer, Ms Gloria James, said: “This has been a painful and traumatic experience for Francis. Because of his actions, he has caused himself grave financial setbacks.”

She added that Rosario had to remain in Singapore after his arrest and on top of using up all his savings, this has also cost him his job contracts in Canada.

Said Ms James: “When two bouncers came to restrain Francis, he was punched by them and lost consciousness.”

Rosario had blood stains on his nose and face as a result, she told the court.

According to a posted web profile Rosario listed his hometown as and nationality as Canadian/Filipino

“Having a successful junior career in Canada, Francis decided to pursue coaching after a minor 2 year tour on the Open and Satellite Circuit. Francis’ extreme passion and love for tennis has given him the opportunity, experience (10+ years coaching tennis and fitness), and knowledge to work with the best teaching professionals from all over the world. His unique training method has helped several players achieve international rankings. Based overseas for part of the year and working seasonally in Canada, Francis creates a strong presence on court, especially with kids, having a fun, safe environment with drills, excercises, and games,” the profile stated.