Thomas Muster was called ‘king of clay’ years before a certain Rafael Nadal redefined what the term meant. But unlike Nadal, Muster’s feats on clay were not seen in the kindest lens by many.
Despite winning just the one Grand Slam - the 1995 French Open - he is considered one of the best players on clay. But clay-court specialist, in his case, was often a disparaging moniker than a complimentary one.
When the Austrian became world No 1 in 1996, a year after his stunning streak on clay, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were among those vocal about him not deserving the honour because most of the points were earned on clay.
But the most enduring image of the Austrian isn’t one from the many clay court events he dominated. Instead, it’s from a practice court, where he is famously captured hitting tennis balls sitting in a special chair with a fractured leg while recovering from a near-fatal accident during Miami Open in 1989.
That incredible comeback from injury, coupled with the impact he had on clay courts and unapologetic approach towards criticism, is what makes Muster stand out. Not all players can be assessed through their Grand Slam records alone and the Austrian is certainly one of them.
Muster ascended to world No 1 in February 1996, on the back of a spectacular run in 1995. He was 29 when he reached the top ranking, considered old by most standards of the time. He won 12 tournaments last year — a record reached by Roger Federer in 2004 — and 11 of them on clay including the French Open. The left-hander also beat Sampras en route to the ATP Masters 1000 Essen title, an indoor carpet event, for good measure.
But one of the most dominant clay-court careers almost didn’t happen.
The 1989 accident and comeback
As a 21-year-old on the verge of breaking into the top 10 of the ATP rankings, Muster had an accident that almost killed him.
Just hours after his semi-final victory at the Miami Open, Muster was hit by a drunk driver while going to get food and had to fly back to Vienna for surgery. He had severed tendons in his left knee among other injuries, but he was determined to return to tennis quickly which saw him hitting balls while sitting on a specially modified chair with his leg in a cast.
He made his comeback about five months later at the Barcelona Open and was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 1990. “I was very lucky to survive that. It could have been much worse... It was a terrible situation, but it was also a way for me to get grounded again, to focus more on what I wanted to do,” Muster was quoted as saying by ATP.
There was no looking back then.
Between May 1990 and July 1995, Muster won 24 consecutive tour-level finals on clay. But the crowning glory on the red dirt came in 1995.
He amassed a extraordinary 65-2 record on clay that year, including a 40-match winning streak, which was the longest on the surface since Bjorn Borg’s 46 straight victories in the 1970s. This included 11 titles, with the pinnacle coming at Roland Garros. In his only Grand Slam final, Muster earned a dominant 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 triumph against 1989 champion Michael Chang to become the first Austrian Major champion.
The world No 1 ranking was a culmination of this effort, but not everyone saw it this way.
“It certainly reflects the fact that you can dominate on one surface and play enough tennis to mislead a lot of people,” Agassi was quoted as saying by the Associated Press in particularly harsh criticism.
Sampras was milder. “I feel that Thomas is the best player in the world on clay and as far as him being the best player on anything but clay, I don’t quite swallow that quite as well. The way the ranking system is with defending points, and I didn’t do well in Australia, it just so happens he had snuck up and became No. 1,” the 14-time Grand Slam champion was quoted as saying in a 1996 LA Times feature on Muster.
The Austrian’s response in that feature was insightful, even as he said Agassi’s words were hurtful. “Three of the Grand Slams are on fast surfaces, and six of the Super Nine are on fast,” Muster said of the tour events that offer the highest purses and computer points. “So how can it be that I am cheating to get to No. 1? This is the system. As I’ve said, it’s not like I’m buying the points at a supermarket.”
There’s also the indication that clay as a surface was more conducive to him after his knee injury and surgery. But whether it was by design or pure skill, Muster played his best tennis on the red dirt.
Throughout his career, he won a total of 44 titles with a whopping 40 of them coming on clay (losing only five finals). His big trophies haul included three at the Monte Carlo Masters and three Rome Masters. Fittingly, the Austrian captured his 44th and final tour-level trophy in Miami in 1997, eight years after his career-threatening accident.
His win-loss record on clay is a solid 426-127, which is fourth on the all-time list after Nadal passed him.
Ever the grinder, he made a comeback to tennis in his 40s, 11 years after his retirement at Roland Garros in 1999. He played a number of ATP Challengers and several ATP Tour events in Austria to minimal success. He even played Dominic Thiem — the future star of Austrain tennis — in 2011. It was a short-lived comeback and nowhere near as successful as when he was 21, but it showed just how much Muster loved fighting it out on the tennis court.
Here’s a look at Muster’s career and comeback
Some of the best ATP moments from his career
The intriguing career of Thomas Muster, in his own words
Highlights from his 1995 French Open final triumph against Chang
An in-depth look at his comeback, from his practice sessions with a fractured leg to winning French Open
Bonus: An old Muster vs a very young Dominic Thiem, who became the next big tennis star from Austria
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