10 WWE-Like Moments In Real Sport
6. Tennis - Monica Seles Vs. Magdalena Maleeva (1993)
In the times before kayfabe was so widely exposed, heel heat was a very dangerous matter. Many stars of yesteryear recount knife attacks by “fans” at shows, including Ole Anderson, Killer Kowalski, and Blackjack Mulligan.
In a dark turn for this list, Serbian born tennis legend Monica Seles would suffer a similar assault in her 1993 quarter final against the difficult Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva. During a break between games, Seles received cuts worryingly close to the neck, in what emerged to be an attack by a deranged audience member, obsessed with title rival Steffi Graf, and who saw Seles as the villain of the piece.
Following the event, tennis would become a latecomer in joining other sports in beefing up security and checks around high profile events, having learned the painful lessons that wrestling had been through in earlier decades. Seles would go on to make a full physical recovery and win a further Grand Slam title, but she admitted to being left with deep psychological scars from the incident.