Thomas Muster – 43 year old Tennis Pro makes a comeback
These days few people, spectators and current players included, will remember the Austrian tennis pro, Thomas Muster. Dropping out in 1999, he has become little more than a name in record books and on trophies. However, at his peak, the now 43 year old player
was not only a World Number 1 player, but also one of the world’s best clay court players in the 1990s.
He was, at the apex of his success, known as “King of Clay”. To back up this title, he won the 1995 French Open tournament at Roland Garros. Another one of his miscellaneous achievements is this: he has only lost one Davis Cup clay singles match in the duration
of his career, with the loss occurring in 1997 against Goran Ivanisevic. Muster has won 29 Davis Cup matches on clay, out of a total of 30 played.
Now, more than a decade after his retirement, the Austrian player is attempting something almost completely unheard of for a retired Association of Tennis Professionals' player. The former World Number 1 player has returned to the ATP tour, and is trying
an entirely unique approach: a comeback after 11 years of absence. At the age of 43, it is not an easy feat to accomplish, especially on the intensely competitive men’s tennis circuit.
After the player retired, he left for the Gold Coast in Australia. He spend some luxurious years there with his wife, television presenter Jo Beth Taylor, and also bought a helicopter with which he explored the Queensland coast. However, his marriage dissolved
and he divorced Taylor in 2005. Soon after, he moved back to his homeland and served the Austrian Davis Cup team as their coach for some time. His other achievements included the establishment of a clothing line called Toms, and his investment into a hotel
complex in the mountains of Austria.
In his first career, Muster’s sole focus was never tennis. After the matches, he would return to his room at the hotel and pursue his hobbies, which included landscape painting on silk and linen. But, the situation vows to be different from 2011; Muster
says, “I hated tennis when I stopped in 1999. Now I love it. And as my body feels good, I want to play as much as possible.”
Thomas Muster played his first comeback match at the Vienna ATP event, fighting it out against a fellow Austrian player. Although, he lost the match, Muster still put up a remarkable performance in the second set and showcased his leftover energy which may
be exactly what he needs to propel back into the game to be once again taken as a serious player.
This match, although a loss, has provided Muster with the confidence and drive needed to set out on the goal he has set for himself for the year 2011. The Austrian plans to make a full comeback on the tour next year, by playing at least 20 tournaments and
making it back into the World’s Top 100 Male Tennis Players.
At his age, a considerable achievement for Muster would be reaching 10 tournaments. Even at half of the target he has set for himself, he will have done astonishingly well. The only player who could beat Muster seems to be Australian Ken Rosewall, with a
career span from 1953 to 1980, during which he won eight Grand Slam titles with his last ATP success coming at the age of 43.
The tour is now a much tougher arena to compete in than it was in 1999, the year of Muster’s retirement. However, given his complex playing style and the many surprises he has up his sleeve, Muster might be able to use his combination of power, personality
and guts to outshine other players on the tour. In any case, Muster will no doubt have the time of his life in the coming year, playing against young pros such as Ernests Gulbis, who will have to work hard to forget that this champion won his first ATP tournament
in 1986, before Gulbis was even born.
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