BONN: Monica Seles, the world’s champion tennis player was stabbed in the back by a Spectator during a match, The 19 year old star was resting between games during a quarter final match of Citizen Cup Tournament in Hamburg when a man leaned over the spectator railing and plunged a 10 inch boning knife into her back. She staggered on to the court screaming with pain as she clutched a blood soaked blouse and collapsed into the arms of tournament officials who rushed to her aid.
The assailant a 38yearold German citizen from east Germany was immediately overpowered and handed over to the police. He Claimed to be a Steffi Graf fan and said “he didn’t want to kill Seles, only injure her to hinder her from playing,” Steffi Graf is ranked No 2 behind Seles.
After Seles was taken to a hospital, doctor aid she had a slight muscle teary *h will cause her to miss three {6 “ur weeks Of tournament play. The doctors says she has suffered a serious psychological attack. Meanwhile, Steffi Graf visited the hospital to see Seles and said she felt very sorry about the attack, “it hurts me even more that it happened in Germany, by a German guy and a guy who is apparently a fan of mine,” Seles is expected to miss the French open where she is a three time defending champion. The psychological blow due to the attack may however be more threatening to her than the injury itself.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 7, 1993
