On this day: Ex-world no. 1 Monica Seles was stabbed in 1993, allegedly by a Stefi Graf fan

April 30, 1993, will be remembered as the darkest day in history of tennis as former world number one women's tennis player, Monica Seles, was stabbed in the back during a quarter-final match in Hamburg.

She had received a 1.5 cm deep wound and was immediately rushed to the hospital. The doctors said that she was very lucky as the weapon did not hurt her lungs and shoulder blades.

As per some media reports, the attack was politically motivated as she belonged to Serbia, the reports also mentioned that she used to receive death threats in connection with the Yugoslav conflict.

It was later revealed by Hamburg police after investigating the case that the attacker was a 38-year-old man who belonged to East Germany.

The police also mentioned that the convict looked very confused and appeared a mentally unstable person. There were speculations that he was a fan of Seles' rival Steffi Graf and did the terrible incident over Monica-Steffi rivalry.

Watch the video of the tragic incident here:

Following the incident, Seles did not return to the court for almost next two years and meanwhile, her rival, Steffi Graf overtook her.

Monica Seles won nine Grand Slam singles titles, eight of them while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the United States. 

She played her last professional match at 2003 French Open but officially retired in the year 2008.