A few days ago, the news went almost unnoticed. The German Günter Parke passed away, and the Bild newspaper confirmed this fact, but emphasized that this happened in August last year, but at that time it was not known.

But who was Parche? It was April 30, 1993, when Monica Seles took part in the tennis tournament in Hamburg. Born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, but of Hungarian descent, and then a naturalized American, although she was only 20 years old at the time, she had already risen to number one in the world rankings, leaving behind German Steffi Graf, who had held the position since 1987. year and 186 consecutive weeks.

Since 1990, when Graf dominated everywhere, the then 16-year-old Seles managed to dethrone her and become a big star in world tennis, winning eight Grand Slam tournaments and 53 titles from January 1991 to February 1993, reaching 33 finals of 34 tournaments in which he participated. She only had 12 losses and 159 wins and everyone was talking about her. On that day, she faced Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva at this particular tournament.

Parsche, 38, was a turner living in the former East Germany and an avid Graf fan who couldn’t believe his idol had been ousted from the top. So he decided to take action. He left home with 3,000 marks, a sandwich and a kitchen knife, and boarded a train determined to do what he thought would put his compatriot back on top of the world. Taking a position near the court, he took advantage of the pause and approached Seles. All she heard was some hateful words in German, and then she felt a sharp pain in her back.

Parha managed to wound her with a 23-centimeter knife, which he had with him. Seles was lucky in his misfortune, as the wound was only 4 centimeters deep and did not damage any vital organs. Court guards managed to immobilize the attacker before he hit the young tennis player a second time. Viewers were shocked to see her writhing on the ground with red spots on her blouse. Her mother and sister were present and accompanied her to the hospital, while Steffi Graf was there almost immediately.

Monica is lucky. Neither the lung nor the scapula were damaged. Only one muscle was affected. She is still in shock and will remain under observation,” was the first medical report from the Eppendorf University Hospital in Hamburg, where Seles was taken. “I didn’t know exactly what happened. Suddenly I had difficulty breathing and I felt terrible pain in my back,” she said of the attack that was to change her career.

The first police assessments shortly after the attack indicated political motives, as Seles had received threats in the past, but in the end the attacker himself admitted that he did this because he wanted to see Steffi Graf again in the first place in the world.
For the first time since the attack, she could not move her arm. She hoped to play tennis at a high level again, unaware of the effect the stabbings had on her. Her left has never been the same. As is her career. Although he won the 1996 Australian Open, he was clearly not happy with what he was doing, suffered from occasional panic attacks and notably never went to play in Germany again.

Parche got what he wanted. “One moment I’m #1 in the world and the next I’m in the hospital. I stabbed myself in court, in front of thousands of people. It’s impossible not to be affected by something like this. It changed my career and destroyed my soul. He made me a different person, ”Seles will say at some point, who, because of Parche, did not achieve what she was born for.
The perpetrator appeared before the court. He told her that he went to commit suicide the first time Seles defeated the Count. Two years later, he wanted to kill her. According to his explanation, he attacked because the Count had “diamond” eyes and “silky” hair and that heaven had sent her to Germany and he had to protect her. The court sent him to a psychiatric clinic. He only spent six months in prison between his assault and conviction on October 13, 1993.

As it became known a few days ago, Guder Parche passed away in August last year at the age of 68, having lived for the last 14 years in a nursing home in Germany and was cared for by a sister who was in charge of him.
“During his stay in the nursing home, he always remained unnoticed and participated in leisure activities: movie nights, needlework and reading the newspaper. The medical staff dressed and washed him. His sister Ina was his official supervisor,” a German newspaper said in a statement confirming the death of the man who changed the history of tennis.