On April 30, 1993, Monica Seles was stabbed by a German "fan" of her rival Steffi Graf during a quarterfinal match in Hamburg. She survived and recovered, but would never be world's #1 again, or the same person. I was 12 that year, and an avid tennis player, so I remember it with particular vividness.
It was also the first episode of sports violence that I truly witnessed and understood with the semi-maturity of adolescence, so it has remained clearly imprinted on my memory. And I certainly cannot deny that, as many youngsters back then, I had a crush on the beautiful and talented Yugoslav.
Here is an excellent feature story by ESPN writer Melissa Isaacson. And here is the video of Monica's stabbing as shown on live TV; it is graphic.
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