April 30, 1993: The Attack On Monica Seles
Although her wound was not life-threatening, it cut enough muscle to put her out of action for a few months. It disturbed her enough mentally that she didn't come back for another 2 years after that.
The native of Novi Sad, Serbia, but ethnically Hungarian, was 19 years old, and had already won 8 of the last 10 majors: The 1990, '91 and '92 French Opens; the '91, '92 and '93 Australian Opens; and the '91 and '92 U.S. Opens. Oddly, she hadn't yet won Wimbledon.
Her attacker, Günter Parche, was obsessed with Steffi Graf, a fellow German whom Seles had replaced as the best female tennis player in the world. Prior to Seles' 1st major win, Graff had won the French Open in 1987, '88 and '93; the Australian Open in 1988, '89 and '90; Wimbledon in 1988, '89, '91 and '92; and the U.S. Open in 1988 and '89.
If Parche's goal was to allow Graf to once again dominate women's tennis, it worked -- at first: She won Wimbledon and the U.S. in 1993, and the Australian in '94. After that, though, Graf slowed down a bit. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario won the next French and U.S. Opens, Conchita Martínez the next Wimbledon. Graf took the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. in 1995, and again in '96, but she never won the Australian again. And after the '96 U.S., she was 27, and won just 1 more major, the '99 French.
Parche spent 6 months in prison, with 2 years of probation. As of April 30, 2022, he is believed to be living in a German nursing home, suffering from a long-term illness. Disenchanted by what she thought was a lenient sentence, Seles refused to play in Germany again. After her return, she won only 1 more major, the 1996 Australian Open.
Seles retired from tennis in 2003, and was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009. Now 49, she lives in Sarasota, Florida, and is married to Tom Golisano, the Rochester-based payroll billionaire who once owned the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. She has no children, although Golisano has children from previous marriages.
UPDATE: The German magazine Bild revealed on April 22, 2023 that Parche had died the previous August, at the age of 68, confirming that he had spent the last 14 years bedridden in a nursing home in Nordhausen, Germany.
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April 30, 1993 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. Mélido Pérez went 8 innings, while Steve Howe and Steve Farr finished a 4-hit shutout for him. Jim Leyritz hit a home run. He and Mike Gallego each had 3 hits. Don Mattingly went 0-for-3 with a walk. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.
* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 7-6 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Mets led 5-3 going into the bottom of the 7th, but the Padres took a 6-5 lead. The Mets tied it in the 8th, but the Padres took the lead back on an RBI single by Tony Gwynn. The losing pitcher was Anthony Young. It was the 17th straight decision he'd lost, a streak that would reach a major league record of 27.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken Jr. went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks. George Brett, in his final season, hit a home run.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Damon Berryhill, the Braves' backup catcher, hit a home run to win the game in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 6-2 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The National League's 2 new expansion franchises weren't doing that badly: Counting this game, the Marlins were 10-13, the Rockies 8-14. The Rockies would finish 67-95, the Marlins 64-98. Neither finished last in their Division: The Mets had a horrible season on several fronts, and needed to win their last 5 games just to finish at the bottom of the East at 59-103; while the Padres had a fire sale, and trailed the West at 61-101.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. And Rickey Henderson drew a leadoff walk in the top of the 10th inning, leading to 6 Cleveland runs, including home runs by Rubén Sierra and Terry Steinbach.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. David Wells went 7 innings, and Greg Gohr finished the 4-hit shutout.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. This turned out to be a preview of the American League Championship Series. However, in the interim, the Blue Jays traded for Rickey Henderson, making a huge difference.
* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled for that day. The NBA Playoffs had just gotten underway, and 4 games were played:
* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 107-104 at Madison Square Garden, in spite of 32 points from Reggie Miller.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 114-90 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 35 points.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 107-103 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix. Sedale Threatt scored 35 for the Lakers.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Utah Jazz, 99-85 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
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