Tennis
Stalking
in Sports
In April of 1993, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf were dueling for supremacy at the top of women’s tennis. Graf had won eight out of the nine Grand Slam tournaments played between 1988 and early 1990, before Seles burst onto the women’s tour and won eight of the next twelve. Their titles and their rivalry catapulted them into stardom — and danger.
At an event in Hamburg, Günter Parche, a fan fixated on Graf, ran onto the court during a changeover as Seles played Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria. He stabbed Seles between the shoulder blades before being restrained. The physical and emotional toll kept Seles away from competitive tennis for over two years, and Seles, who looked predestined to win dozens of major titles, would win just one more in her career. Graf would win 22.
