Who did he lose to at the 1991 French Open while leading 2 sets to love up?
1991 lost to Sampras 1st round. His clay court record for 1991 was 4-5 and his overall tour record was 4-8. He had gone from a top 10 player in 1990 to #57 in the World to start the 1991 French Open. Thus losing in the 1st or 2nd round to anyone would not have been a big surprise for me.
What strategy of tennis, if used well, could often take Muster out of his comfort level?
Muster often hit his groundstrokes standing so far back he was figuratively *** to the back fence when rallying. Being so far back it's not surprising serve and volley players and Kuerten who hit extremely angled power shots beat him on clay.
Edberg owned him 10-0 lifetime, 4 wins over Muster on clay, leading Muster to biatch about how s&v tennis wasn't tennis. What Muster meant was that s&v tennis forced him to play tennis in court areas way outside his comfort zone. He as a rule skipped Wimbledon and played in tiny clay court events in Europe instead.
In general, Muster struggled against players who could serve big and either attack the net or take his time away by hitting the ball on the rise and fairly flat.
What was the HTH between Muster and Edberg? Bonus points up for grabs, if you can tell me if Edberg defeated Muster on all surfaces used then.
Edberg - Muster: 10-0. The reasons are in those answers above.
At the 1994 French Open, Muster was defeated by a young Australian. Who was he?
Patrick Rafter. Another attacking serve volley player.
How many breaks of serve was Muster up in the 5th set against Kuerten at the French Open in 1997?
Muster seemed to have all the momentum up 3-0 in the fifth until Guga started ripping amazing series of backhand winners from all over the court. Muster got himself into trouble by standing so far behind the baseline. Kuerten simply didn't let him get away with anything that landed short.
Final Score: 6-7(3-7), 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Kuerten, clothed in motley colors reminding the Brazilian flag, for the first time won three matches in a row playing his 20th main-level tournament. The defeat ended a terrible clay-court season for Muster, the former “king of clay” who is only 8-7 on the surface this year. However 1997 was his best hard court year.
Ironically, Kuerten used the same racket that Muster used at 1995 French Open (Head Pro Tour 630). Muster was dismantled by his old weapon of choice that day.
Thomas Muster was regarded as the heavy favourite for the 1996 French Open. Who quickly laid that myth to rest in the fourth round, after playing just his second tournament after a 10 week injury break?
Muster was 34-1 on clay in 1996. Michael Stich, when his game is on he will enter formidable mode and a player who you should avoid, no matter the surface. He was the player who Sampras feared most. Stich was obviously red hot those two weeks, and he played the attacking style that gave Muster fits.
Stich won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1).
Not as well known, but Muster made a slight comeback in 2010/11, and played mainly challengers but also a couple ATP events. Was it a successful comeback?
When I first heard that new, I thought he came back for some exhibition matches, but I was really glad that he came back to professional tennis.
Muster played his first match at the Braunschweig Challenger in Germany, losing to Connor Niland in the first round and also lost in first round at other three challenger tournaments. Muster won his first match since 1999 at Ljubljana Challenger over Borut Puc. His biggest win since he made a come back was over Leonardo Mayer at the Todi Challenger.
Muster's last match was at Salzburg Challenger, which he lost in three tough sets.
It was a failed come back, but nice tried for him.