MONICA Seles was attacked in 1993 while she was playing in a tennis match.
The young star narrowly avoided death after she was stabbed by Günter Parche. But who was he?
Who was Günter Parche?
Günter Parche became a household name after he attacked Monica Seles during a tennis match.
The attack came on April 30, 1993 when Monica was playing a quarter-final match in Hamburg, Germany against Bulgarian tennis star Magdalena Maleeva.
While she was having a drinks break in the second set, Seles leaned forward to have some water before feeling a pain in her back.
She had been stabbed by Parche with a nine-inch blade.
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Fortunately, Parche missed Monica’s spine and vital organs and a bodyguard intervened before he could stab her again.
Seles did not return to tennis for over two years after the stabbing.
Who is Monica Seles?
Monica, who was born December 2, 1973, is a former world No. 1 tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States.
She won nine major singles titles, eight of them as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the US.
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Seles officially retired from the sport in February 2008.
Why did Günter Parche attack Monica Seles?
Parche was an obsessed fan of Seles's rival, German player Steffi Graf, which led him to stab Monica.
Initially, there was speculation that the attack might have been politically motivated because Seles was from Yugoslavia and she had received death threats in relation to the Yugoslav Wars.
However, German authorities were quick to rule this out, describing her attacker as confused.
According to police, Parche intended to severely injure Seles so that she would be unable to play tennis and Graf would become the world No. 1 player again.
What happened to Günter Parche after the attack on Monica Seles?
Parche was charged following the attack but spent less than six months in pre-trial detention.
In his trial, he was found to be psychologically abnormal, and was sentenced to two years' probation and psychological treatment.
Parche has since died at the age of 68.
He spent the last 14 years living in a nursing home in Nordhausen Germany, where he reportedly lived in a single room.
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