His Life

For all those who still don’t know, or who no longer know precisely who Thomas Muster is and what he achieved in tennis, here in snapshot the highlights of his unique career.

Thomas Muster is still the first and only Austrian to win a Grand Slam Tournament (1995 French Open, Roland Garros, three set final victory against Michael Chang).

Muster is still the first and only Austrian ever to achieve the Number One position in the Tennis World Ranking List (February 1996).

Muster was the first and only Austrian to win the Sand Court Classics in Monte Carlo and Rome- not once – but several times.

Muster set a record in 1995 with twelve tournament victories in one year – a record only to be equalised by Federer in 2004. Between 1986 and 1996 he won 44 ATP Tournaments. Mainly on sand, but also on carpet in Essen and also on hard courts in Key Biscayne.

Muster who back then was already in the Top 10, achieved only one year after the Miami car crash (1st April 1989) in which everything in the knee ripped which could rip, one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history: Tournament victories in Monte Carlo and Rome, successes over Agassi and Chang in the Davis Cup Semi-Final Austria – USA.

Muster disproved both the know-it-alls who had doubted him and also the prejudice of being “on sand“ on fast surfaces such as grass with results that speak for themselves:  Semi-Final Australian Open (2x), Quarter-Final US-Open (3x), Semi-Final Queens Club (1x).

Muster withdrew in 1999 spending a lot of time in Australia having some time out from tennis, but in 2003 he celebrated his comeback in Graz on the Seniors tour before he was appointed in Spring 2004 as the non-playing-Captain of the Austrian Davis Cup Team.
The Austrian players even collected points in the Austria-Great Britain Davis Cup Tie. 3:2 was the final result and the promotion to the World Group was secured!

Text: Joseph Metzger