WIMBLEDON, England -- A German man accused of stalking Serena Williams in at least five countries was released from custody Thursday following his arrest outside the gates to Wimbledon.

Albrecht Stromeyer, 34, was in court Thursday charged with breaching the peace and criminal damage following an altercation with police at the All England Club on Wednesday.

Stromeyer told police he ''loved'' Williams ''but will never hurt her.''

Police said he has followed her to tournaments in Germany, Italy, Britain, France and the United States.

Stromeyer, a student who lives with his parents in Frankfurt, Germany, did not contest the charges when he appeared in Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

The court released him but made him post a bond of $456. Stromeyer, his head covered with a black hood, left the court through a back entrance and made no comment.

Hours after Stromeyer appeared in court, Serena beat Amelie Mauresmo in a Wimbledon semifinal to advance to Saturday's final against her sister, Venus.

Serena said after her win that she wasn't aware that Stromeyer had appeared in court until just before Venus played her semifinal match against Justine Henin.

''I don't really pay any attention to anything like that,'' she said. ''But I don't see how it could affect my game, him being arrested. I'm a strong person. I try not to let things like that affect me.''

Oracene Williams, Serena's mother, admitted that Stromeyer wasn't arrested for stalking, so it would have been difficult to keep him in jail based on the minor offenses.

But when asked whether she wishes the man had been kept in custody, Oracene Williams replied: ''I think it would make me a little more at ease.''

''I just wish he would get some help,'' she added.

In court, prosecutor Martin Fox said ''apparently Mr. Stromeyer has a fixation for tennis player Serena Williams.''

''Information was received by local police to that effect. There have been previous incidents where Mr. Stromeyer tried to get close to Miss Williams in both Arizona and Rome.

''The defendant was seen and recognized by officers. Officers tried to prevent the defendant riding down the road (on a bicycle). Eventually he had to be taken off by force.''

''He said: 'I don't hate her, I love her, I will never hurt her,''' Fox quoted Stromeyer as saying.

Defense lawyer Bruce Cooper said Stromeyer ''does accept that his behavior has caused alarm and apprehension.''

Magistrate Peter Ullethorne made Stromeyer put up the bond covering a period of 13 months, which would run through until the end of next year's Wimbledon. He will forfeit that amount if he approaches Williams during that time.

Outside the court, Metropolitan Police Chief Supt. Des Stout said police were aware Stromeyer was in the area around Wimbledon and had asked him not to come to the grounds.

''We were in touch with him beforehand and had asked him to stay away, but he didn't comply,'' Stout said.

''Police were taking some security photographs and he tried to grab the camera. At the moment he is in a safe place with his family and we have advised him to get help.

''He is deemed a nuisance rather than a danger, and we don't believe he is violent. His ambition would be at some stage to talk to her.''

Italian police, acting on information and photos provided by Interpol, stopped Stromeyer on May 18 at the Foro Italico complex during the Italian Open, Rome police spokesman Antonio Del Greco said Thursday.

Del Greco said Stromeyer had a history of ''harassing'' Serena, having been stopped at tournaments in the United States and Germany.

He said authorities briefly detained Stromeyer at a Rome police station. Stromeyer was neither formally arrested nor was he charged with stalking, but was served with an expulsion order and then released, Del Greco said.

Oracene Williams has also reported the sighting of the man at a tournament in May in Berlin and at the French Open last month, where he showed up at their hotel.

A full-time bodyguard is accompanying the Williams family at Wimbledon.

In March, Stromeyer walked into a hotel-resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., where Williams was playing a tournament, and asked to see her, said Officer Scott Reed, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department.

When the desk clerk denied his request, Stromeyer began taking off his clothes, Reed said. Reed said Stromeyer was arrested by police and charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure, although it was unclear whether Stromeyer has faced court on those charges.

In April, a man who followed Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis was sentenced to two years in prison for stalking and trespassing. Dubravko Rajcevic, a 46-year-old Croatian-born naval architect and Australian citizen, was arrested when he ignored an order from police to stay away from Hingis during a tournament at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Security for women's players has been a priority since Monica Seles was stabbed by a German man during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany in 1993.