Breaking:”I am not an official, so don’t ask me” – When Steffi Graf bluntly shut down question about Monica Seles after her return post-stabbing controversy
Steffi Graf once shut down reporters questioning her about Monica Seles’ reaction to being seeded or unseeded upon her return to tennis after a horrific stabbing incident. Her remarks came during the 1993 US Open.
Seles was stabbed on April 30, 1993, during a match in Hamburg, Germany. A 19-year-old fan named Günter Parche, obsessed with Graf, ran onto the court and stabbed her in the back with a knife. The attack was shocking, but fortunately, she survived.
The American took a two-year break from tennis, and though she made a comeback, she was never quite the same player. Parche was found mentally unstable and never served prison time, receiving only a suspended sentence.
When asked about the issue of seeding upon Monica Seles’ return, Steffi Graf firmly stated that it was not her concern and that the decision was up to the officials, not the players:
