“Greatest player of all time”- More than 30 years after the brutal stabbing, Monica Seles still hailed as benchmark among contemporary tennis fans

Monica Seles could not reach the heights she was expected to, and the stabbing incident played a massive role in that.

“Greatest player of all time”- More than 30 years after the brutal stabbing, Monica Seles still hailed as benchmark among contemporary tennis fans

Monica Seles stabbing incident still haunts many (Images via Tennis.com, Sportstar)

Like any other sport, tennis also has so many what-ifs. The sport has been played for over 100 years, and there are so many results that are hard to fathom for the fans. 

Also, while the sport has seen legends of the game there have also been players who could not fulfill their potential for several reasons. Now, as a user spurred the what-if debate on social media, Monica Seles‘ name appeared on most occasions.

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The Yugoslavian, who won 53 tour-level titles in her career and won seven Grand Slam titles in just three years, could not fulfill her potential. Seles getting stabbed by a fan was the main reason that the Yugoslavian could not reach the heights she was expected to. 

FS Video

While Seles might have moved on from this setback, her fans are still not over that episode, which changed the Yogoslavian’s life forever. It was evident when a user started the what-if debate on social media. As the user on X asked tennis fans to comment on their biggest what-ifs in the sport, the comment section was filled with people talking about Seles. 

If Monica Seles never got stabbed, she'd be hailed as the greatest player of all time (no debate).
A user commented on the post.

Check out other similar reactions from fans on the biggest what-ifs in tennis.

https://twitter.com/Tomtetom2/status/1753838396802294008

What exactly happened to Monica Seles?

Monica Seles was one of the most talented players when she emerged on the tennis circuit. The young girl from Yugoslavia won Grand Slam titles for fun and even left behind the then-tennis superstar Steffi Graf.

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Monica Seles (Image via Time)

Seles became the youngest woman to win the French Open in 1990 when she defeated the then-No. 1-ranked Graf in the finals.

Seles then also replaced Graf at the top of the rankings the following year. She also made it to the finals of the next seven Grand Slam tournaments and won six of them. Then, in 1993, Seles faced the biggest setback of her career—a knife attack that no one would have ever imagined. 

On April 30, 1993, Seles, then 19, was sitting on a courtside seat during a changeover in her match against Magdalena Maleeva at the Hamburg Open when 38-year-old Gunter Parche leaned over a fence and stabbed her between the shoulder blades with a knife. Seles was taken to the hospital, and the culprit was apprehended.

This attack meant the Yugoslavian missed out on tennis action for almost two years. Although she recovered from the bodily harm, the emotional scar the attack left on Seles never healed. She won her ninth Grand Slam title in 1996.

While Seles continued to compete, she lost her edge, and recurring injuries meant she decided to hang her racket in 2008. With this, a valuable talent’s opportunity to fulfill its potential was taken away, and the regrets stayed forever.

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