Close Cut

WHEN A BURLY FAN LUNGED OUT OF THE STANDS and stabbed top-ranked tennis pro Monica Seles in the upper back during a Hamburg tournament Friday, the first thought was of Balkan politics. Seles was born in Serbia, and there have been threats against her in the past. But the issue turned out to be top-level tennis, not war. "He did not want to kill Monica Seles," said a police spokesman. "He only wanted to injure her so Steffi Graf could become No. 1 again." The assailant, a 38-year-old German lathe operator, nearly succeeded. His 4.5-in. boning knife barely missed Seles' spinal cord, and it put a 1/2- in.-deep cut in the muscles of her upper back. Doctors at a nearby hospital closed the wound and predicted that it would heal quickly. Nevertheless, the wound put her out of the Hamburg tournament -- she was top seed and was leading Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva 6-4, 4-3 when she was stabbed -- and trainers were uncertain if she would be fit to defend her title May 24 in the French Open.