Seles’ Attacker Set Free

A German court rejected an appeal by tennis star Monica Seles to jail the man who stabbed her two years ago and brought her career to an abrupt halt.

The decision by the Hamburg State Court confirmed the original two-year suspended sentence handed down by a lower court in October, 1993, that triggered an international uproar because it allowed the convicted assailant to go free.

As he did before, the 40-year-old attacker, German lathe operator Guenther Parche, walked free after Monday’s ruling.

In a one-sentence statement, Seles, who lives in Sarasota, Fla., said, “I am as surprised as everyone else, and I just don’t understand this.”