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Monica Seles stabbed: 20 years ago today

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Steak Snabler, Apr 30, 2013.

  1. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Thought this was well-done, even without interviewing Seles (who turned down interview requests):

    http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/9226901/espnw-stabbing-stole-monica-seles-tennis-career

    It doesn't seem this event is remembered the way it should be. Maybe it's because Seles doesn't talk about it.

    Maybe it's because it took place in a foreign country. Or maybe because Harding-Kerrigan and O.J. came along a year or so later and it just wasn't so spectacular anymore.

    But people forget how great Seles was:

    Seles might have gone down as the greatest women's player of all-time. Would have been really interesting to see her still playing in her late 20s when Venus and Serena came along.
     
  2. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    The reason why any "spectator" coming onto the performance surface of any major sporting event or concert needs to be put down for the count and carried out of the arena feet first.

    Parche should have been put into traction, or a body bag.
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    What's so crazy about it is barely anything happened to the guy and he essentially got his wish, which was for Steffi to return to No. 1...

    Just insane...
     
  4. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    Damn shame; because Parch got exactly what he wanted.

    Up to that point, Seles was the most dominant force who absolutely owned Graf; Seles hit the ball on the rise better than anyone before, or even after, now and she could blast Graf off the court. She could pass Martina with no problem. No one could touch Seles.

    Seles was so humble, moved around the court wonderfully, and actually had a fairly good relationship with her coach/father (IIRC). I enjoyed being a fan.
     
  5. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Not really. Seles at one point won 3 of 4 Grand Slam finals vs. Graf and, at her peak, was scary good.

    But she won two matches in a row vs. Graf only once and had a 5-10 record against her.

    In their five matches preceding the stabbing, Seles was 2-3 against Graf. And before the stabbing, Seles was 1-4 against Graf on surfaces other than clay.
     
  6. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    Seles had won 7 of the 8 previous majors. Taking clay out of the equation is disingenuous; the French counts as a major, just like the Open or Wimbledon or the Aus.
     
  7. sportbook

    sportbook Member

    Her boyfriend is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres.
     
  8. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Hard to know how good Seles could have been over the long haul. She never seemed like quite the same player when she came back, although one can argue that age alone can cause a player to decline.

    She was fun to watch, grunting aside, because of her intensity on every shot. The 1991 US Open semifinal, where she beat Jennifer Capriati in three riveting sets where both players just hammered the ball, was particularly memorable.
     
  9. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    My mom was a big tennis fan, so when I was young, I watched all the majors with her and still remember watching Connors, McEnroe and Lendl (a player my mom liked because, as she said, nobody else did).

    Then I fell in love with Monica Seles. She was my first true celebrity crush. I was fucking head over heels for her. Not even sure why, because she isn't drop-dead hot. I still remember when she was stabbed, and I was so pissed because I had no other reason to watch women's tennis.
     
  10. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Many years ago I was on the road covering the beat I was on. We were in the same town as the women's tour event that week, and some of the players were at the game and seated along the press row. Monica was sitting two seats to my left, with the first seat to my left open. This was either one or two years before the stabbing, so she was I think 17 or 18. We didn't chat a whole lot, and the players left after halftime, but she struck me as a very nice and very mature young woman.
     
  11. NDJournalist

    NDJournalist Active Member

    The lead is bad. By calling him an "unemployed sicko" in the first few words, you've already chimed in with an opinion.
     
  12. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Yeah, "Before a human being ..." would have been much more descriptive. ::)
     
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