"I can still see the hate in his face...& he doesn't have to go to jail at all?" - When Monica Seles cried in confusion over her attacker walking free

Monica Seles once expressed deep frustration over her attacker avoiding jail time, despite derailing her career with a vicious assault. Seles also explained her reasons for not testifying at his trial.

Seles rose to prominence as one of tennis' greatest prodigies, clinching eight Major titles before her 20th birthday. Tragedy struck in 1993 when Gunther Parche stabbed the then-19-year-old between her shoulder blades during her quarterfinal clash at the Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany. Parche was an obsessive fan of her arch-rival Steffi Graf, who wanted to help the German regain the World No. 1 ranking from Seles.

Although her physical injuries healed within weeks, Monica Seles stayed away from the sport for two years. During that time, the Yugoslav-born American had to watch as Gunter Parche's first trial ended with him only receiving a two-year suspended sentence from a Hamburg court. Seles' lawyers sought a retrial after she expressed outrage over the lenient ruling, but a different judge upheld the original decision.

The judge revealed that the former World No. 1's refusal to testify in court had influenced the outcome. However, in a 1995 interview with Sports Illustrated, Monica Seles lamented being expected to testify, highlighting the fear of sitting with her back to the man who attacked her.

"How can they have expected me to go back there and testify? When I heard I would have to sit in the courtroom with my back to him, I knew it was the 100 percent absolute right decision," Monica Seles said.

Seles also tearfully expressed confusion over Gunter Parche escaping jail time, vividly recalling the visceral hatred in his eyes during the harrowing attack.

"I mean, the man stabbed me. There was the way he did it, the way he planned it, the idea that he put the knife in my back, pulled it out and was going to do it again. I can still see the hate in his face that I saw when I turned around. And they say he doesn't have to go to jail at all? I don't understand,'' she sobbed. "I'm just... so... confused.''

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"I didn't want to kill her" - Monica Seles' attacker Gunter Parche on why he stabbed her

Monica Seles - Source: Getty

During his testimony at the trial, Gunter Parche revealed that his goal wasn't to kill Monica Seles but to injure her enough to force her out of competition temporarily since that would allow Steffi Graf to regain the World No. 1 ranking.

"I didn't want to kill her. I just wanted to hurt her slightly so that Monica wouldn't be able to play for a couple of weeks," Parche said. "I didn't want to hurt the head or the neck under any circumstances. I couldn't reach the arm. Then came the shoulder. I aimed at the shoulder and struck."

Parche's lawyer also read a statement on his behalf, in which the German apologized to Seles and asked for forgiveness while acknowledging that he couldn't undo the harm he caused.

"I'm very, very sorry for what I did to you. I know that I cannot make it undone or make it up. I ask for forgiveness," the statement read.

Despite the traumatic ordeal, Monica Seles made a triumphant return to the sport, winning her first tournament back at the Canadian Open. She went on to clinch her ninth and final Grand Slam title at the 1996 Australian Open.