04/24/24
April 30, 2003
10 years ago today, 30 April 1993, before anybody knew who the Williams sisters were, Monica Seles dominated women's tennis. She had won four of the five previous Grand Slam Tournaments, and at age 19 looked poised to dominate for years to come. And then a man ran out onto the court and stabbed her where she stood.
Frank DeFord did a nice piece on Seles for NPR last month. And here's a possible solution to the cellphone problem.
posted by yerfatma at 10:44 AM on April 30, 2003
In our lifetime, will fields of play be surrounded by barriers separating performers from spectators? They've been doing that in Europe for ages. Flares, barriers, policemen and attack dogs between the spectators and the fields.
posted by worldcup2002 at 10:48 AM on April 30, 2003
I'm amazed that she was able to return to the court just two years later. The fear she must have felt sitting in the sideline chair agian must've been powerful. I'd completely forgotten that she had won four of the previous five Grand Slams. She may not have come back as the exact same player, but the fact that she came back effectively at all is still amazing to me. Oh, and to keep fans off? Well, there's always this inspirational game as a possible influence.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:19 AM on April 30, 2003
Ufez: Hahahaha, that's a good one! I want one of those, but only after I get the ping-pong table, pool table and table soccer (not foosball, which is cool, too, but more like table hockey). Yeah.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:35 AM on April 30, 2003
How come no one ever stabs John Rocker or Mike Tyson? Or Bryan Marchment? Can we at least agree to limit stabbings to people who deserve it?
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2003
Actually, at one point, Seles had one eight of the last 11 Grand Slams, of which she had only played 10. That, my friends, is domination, especially as it interrupted Graf's march to her grand total of 22. Now, 22 is a hugely impressive number, but it's worth remembering that six of those came during Seles's absence, and another five after her return. SI did an Overrated/Underrated cover story a few years ago, and Deford put Graf down in the former category. I think one can only overrate her by calling her the greatest ever, really, but I can appreciate the fact that during what should have been the prime years of her career, someone else was better and beat her consistently. What would Seles have accomplished if she hadn't been stabbed? It's worth considering, if only because such thought experiments are a lovely tradition in arguing about sports.
posted by jason streed at 01:10 PM on April 30, 2003
We've been making a big deal (and rightfully so) about the yahoos running onto baseball fields lately and taking potshots at umpires and coaches. People keep wondering and speculating when something worse will happen. Well, duh, something worse DID already happen. In our lifetime, will fields of play be surrounded by barriers separating performers from spectators?