Günter Parche

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Günter Parche (b. July 4, 1954 in Hengen, Germany) was a 38-year-old unemployed German lathe operator on April 30, 1993, when he infamously stabbed tennis player Monica Seles, then ranked No. 1 in the world, with a steak knife during a tournament in Hamburg.

The incident occurred during a quarter-final match between Seles and Magdalena Maleeva, in which Seles was leading 6-4, 4-3. Seles had just sat down in her chair during a break between games when Parche ran from the stands to the edge of the court, leaned over the 3-foot barrier, and plunged a 10-inch kitchen knife between Seles' shoulder blades. She let out a piercing scream and was rushed to a hospital as security officers tackled Parche and took him into custody.

The incident left the 19-year-old tennis star with a 1.5-cm-deep wound in her upper back. Tournament Director Peter Wind told the press: "She was very lucky. Neither the lungs nor the shoulder blades were affected."

There was immediate speculation that the attack might have been politically motivated because of Seles's Serbian roots. She had previously received death threats in connection with the conflict in Yugoslavia. But Hamburg police were quick to rule this out and described her attacker as appearing confused and probably mentally disturbed. Further media reports in the days following the attack described Parche as a loner, who was prompted to attack Seles because of an obsession with seeing the German player Steffi Graf regain the World No. 1 ranking.

Parche was charged with the attempted murder of Seles, but insisted that he did not intend to kill her, only injure her. During his trial, psychology experts testified that Parche was mentally deficient. In the end he was acquitted of attempted murder and found guilty of the lesser charge of causing grievous bodily harm. He received a two-year suspended sentence and mandatory psychological treatment.

The sentence was condemned by Seles and her family who felt that it was much too lenient, but it was nevertheless upheld on appeal.

Seles was severely traumatized by the event and did not return to competitive tennis for another 28 months.

The incident led to a considerable strengthening of security at tennis events.