Tennis: Seles felt she 'might die' after Hamburg court attack

MONICA SELES has said the knife attack she endured last week was so unreal she thought she had died. 'In the first moment I didn't realise what had happened. I couldn't breathe,' the 19-year-old Yugoslav world women's No 1 said.

Seles was assaulted by a spectator during a tournament in Hamburg on Friday, and left hospital on Sunday to fly home to the United States in a private jet. 'The pain came when someone pressed their hand on my back. It was like a fog, somehow unreal, and I thought maybe I would die. I was lucky because I went down a little to reach my towel when the knife hit me. If not, I could have been dead, or it could have damaged my spine.

'Everything is so close together, even life and death. I thought about it before, but now I know what death is.' Seles has gone to the Steadman Hawkins clinic in Vail, Colorado, where she was treated for her shin problems instead of going to Wimbledon last year.

Seles's father, Karolj, will ask for extra protection for his daughter at tournaments. 'There were not enough safety precautions before this happened,' he said. 'In future, I will put into contracts that Monica gets a bodyguard for every tournament she plays.'

Gunther Parche, an east German, has been charged with attempted murder after the attack on Seles. The 38-year-old has told police he had attacked Seles because he wanted to help Steffi Graf recapture the world No 1 position.

Security is to be tightened at the French Open, starting on 24 May, following the attack on Seles. Christian Bimes, the president of the French tennis federation, said measures are likely to include a body search of all spectators at the two-week Grand Slam event.

Seles, the French Open champion for the last three years, is likely to miss this year's event, and may not be fit for Wimbledon.