Match Stats/Report - Muster vs Chang, French Open final, 1995

[Waspsting]

Thomas Muster beat Michael Chang 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the French Open final, 1995 on clay

It was Muster’s only Slam title and final. Chang had previously won the title in 1989

Muster won 97 points, Chang 80

(Note: I’m missing 3 points -

Set 1, Game 1, Points 1-2 - Chang service points, 1 won by each player
Set 3, Game 6, Point 1 - a Muster service point that he won)

Serve Stats
Muster...
- 1st serve percentage (47/87) 54%
- 1st serve points won (33/47) 70%
- 2nd serve points won (24/40) 60%
- ?? serve points won (1/1)
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/87) 18%

Chang....
- 1st serve percentage (53/87) 61%
- 1st serve points won (33/53) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (16/34) 47%
- ?? serve points won (1/2)
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (10/87) 11%

Serve Patterns
Muster served...
- to FH 19%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 7%

Chang served...
- to FH 60%
- to BH 39%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Muster made...
- 75 (60 FH, 15 BH), including 15 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced ( 3FH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 4 Forced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (75/85) 88%

Chang made...
- 67 (18 FH, 49 BH), including 3 runaround FHs & 2 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (67/83) 81%

Break Points
Muster 6/10 (7 games)
Chang 2/6 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Muster 20 (8 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV, 2 OH)
Chang 28 (12 FH, 2 BH, 5 FHV, 3 BHV, 6 OH)

Muster's - FHs - 1 cc, 1 cc/longline pass, 2 dtl (1 at net), 3 inside-out, 1 inside-in runaround return
- BHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl (1 pass)

Chang's FHs - 1 cc pass at net, 5 inside-out (1 return), 3 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc, 1 drop shot, 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl pass

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Muster 37
- 22 Unforced (13 FH, 9 BH)
- 15 Forced (7 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)... the OH was flagrantly forced, on the baseline against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.6

Chang 57
- 37 Unforced (17 FH, 16 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)... with 1 OH on bounce near the baseline
- 20 Forced (7 FH, 11 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net and the OH was flagrantly forced on the baseline against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.2

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Muster was...
- 17/21 (83%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching

Chang was...
- 23/34 (68%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 2/2 return-approaching
- 0/3 forced back/retreated

Match Report
Excellent match with, hard hitting, beat-down baseline action (not outlast or grind). Muster is outstanding at it and Chang a worthy adversary

Within that context, Muster has just about everything. Off both both wings…

- Powerful and/or deep shots off both wings to pressure, while being consistent.
- Point ending shots off both wings along natural lines (i.e. FH dangerous, BH selectively capable of being so)
- Top quality defence - he’s a pain to overpower/beat-down, he’s a pain to drag an error out of on the full run

Throw in use of net when taking charge of rallies (which he does more often than not), a hefty-to-powerful serve and a heartily strong returns (which includes some unconventional stuff both of his own choice and in response to Chang’s tactics)… what is he missing?

Chang’s toolbox isn’t exactly empty either. He plays a similar game and is just 1 item short of Muster

The BH is merely hard-hittingly strong, a challenge to Muster’s FH in cc rallies likely to end with an error. Doesn’t have the selective point ending prowess of Muster’s BH

Other than that, he has everything Muster does. Seeing as he serves at 62% to Muster’s 53% (albeit, with slightly less strong serve) and that BH point ending prowess isn’t something that’s likely to decide a clay match, of prospects, he might even have an edge

Muster wins because he’s better at most things (probably all), with Chang being good at them too, though the the BH difference does have a hand in all of it

If Chang errs some, its in missing a few too many aggressive FHs. With BH incapable of aggressive finishing, pressure is on the FH to do so. Muster’s consistency advantage also necessitates Chang taking aggressive risks

An overused cliche in tennis is crediting Player X when Player Y misses aggressive shots because X’s defence is so good that Y has to hit harder and closer to lines then he’d like to end points, thus making more errors. In this case, its true. Muster has better consistency on UE front and moderate attacks (some combo of wider/harder/deeper combo of shots) usually don’t draw FEs out of him. Leaving Chang little option but to go for point-ending FHs, which he misses good number of

Play - Baseline (& Net)
Neutral UEs - Muster 11, Chang 17

Best starting point to make sense of play. Bulk of Chang’s would be BHs, while Muster’s are more evenly distributed across wings

BH UEs - Muster 9, Chang 16 (almost a replica of neutral UEs)

Attacking UEs - Muster 3, Chang 6
Errors Forced - Muster 19, Chang 15

This one’s particularly important on clay, where attacking shots often don’t actually draw errors (and particularly so when guys like Muster and Chang are involved). Fine job by both here, especially in light of how difficult it is to force an error

Those figures include net play, but most net play is an extension of baseline superiority. Neither player manufactures approaches for the sake of being at net much, but rather, come in after wrestling advantage - usually by overpowering the other - from the back

Winners - Muster 20, Chang 28
Winner Attempt UEs - Muster 8, Chang 14

… related to FH UEs - Muster 13, Chang 17, with FH having more winners for both players than any other shot (Muster 8, 3 more than BH, Chang 12, 10 more than BH, though he has more net winners)

Not bad from Chang overall, especially in light of how it seems nothing short of perfect shot will do. Off the ground alone, it has sizeable room for improvement though
All 4 of his volley/OH UEs (including an OH on bounce from near baseline) are winner attempts and he has 14 winners at net

Subtracting those leave him with 14 winners, 10 winner attempt UEs in baseline-to-baseline situation. Not many poor putaway misses, but even taking into account Muster's defence, not good from Chang

By contrast, Muster has no forecourt UEs and considerable lot of his misses are pseudo throwaway shots at unimportant junctures

Chang's at his best offensively when rallying to net

Rallying to net -
Muster 15/19 at 79%
Chang 19/30 at 63%
(Both players are also perfect serve-volleying and return-approaching - combining the two, Muster 2/2, Chang 4/4)

Both players coming while/after overpowering the other from the back. Muster is more often then not the one to overpower, but seeing he's doing well ending points from the back, doesn't have as much need to come in. Good job by Chang to come in so much more despite being able to take charge of baseline rallies less often. Might have done better to do it even more, because unlike Muster, he has a hard time finishing poiints from the back

 

[Waspsting]

Chang isn’t particularly net seeking and Muster isn’t net shy. While both come in off commanding approaches, Muster’s finishing in getting the ball through the clay is perfect (and would have to be to get past the ever quick Chang). Its not all easy volleys either. He hits 2 picture perfect drop volley winners - 1 with soft hands, the other giving with a back-flicking wrist on impact. Pete Sampras couldn’t play them better

Note Chang with high 6 OH winners. Sign of how bad a position Muster’s in to throw up so many lobs and also sign of how nothing less than almost perfect shots finish points against him

Bulk of rallies are cc based of nature, where whoever has the ball on their FH with prospective advantage. It doesn’t work out that way, with Muster getting better of both stock rallies

Muster’s BH holds almost even of hitting strength with Chang’s FH cc’s and if anything, looks less likely to give up the error. And he can get out of the rally by going line, though is so comfy enough in the cc rally that he has no particular reason to. A change-up, firm longline shot to get Chang moving and hit a BH, not an aggressive dtl shot - good enough. For that matter, he shows better ability to get a particularly wide, attacking cc shot off too. Unlikely to breakthrough that wing, its Chang who switches to ambitious aggression, which tends to not work out well

Few BH longline exchanges. Hitting again about the same, but Muster more able to get a strong cc shot off to do damage. He’s got 3 BH cc winners

On Muster FH vs Chang BH side of things, similar story. Muster with hitting, consistency and variety advantage. After gradually gaining hitting advantage, he can keep at it to beat-out errors from the BH, or switch to longline, this time a bit more attackingly

Both players preferred finishers are backed-up FH inside-in and inside-outs. Chang goes in for these more often both for choice and a general plan starting with his serve

Serve & Return
The most eye-catching feature is Chang serving from an extreme, wide position in ad court, allowing him to get the ball very wide out to Muster’s FH. Its not an uncommon ploy on clay but usually goes to the BH, where countering with dtl to open court is difficult

To the leftie Muster, it goes to his FH. He’s able to move over and whack the ball back cc, very rarely going dtl. Serves dragged him off court and Chang looks for potentially point-ending FH inside-in to open court or a wrong footing FH inside-out as Muster runs to cover the open court

Fair success for Muster in running down the inside-ins and making Chang press on with more attacking shots, and Chang ends up missing some of his attacking shots along numbers outlined earlier, but Chang wins bulk of the points

Defensively, Muster is more successful because his wider attacking shots are more powerful, not because he’s quicker. Both players are very quick and both tough to get error out of. Muster perhaps better at the the late, back-foot ‘get’. As one would expect, very impressive stuff from both players running and defending

Of shot tolerance, Chang’s BH is the least strong shot on show and its not bad, just not as good as the other shots. And Muster’s FH cc power hitting has subtlety to it, he can go that little bit wider that plies on more pressure without raising his risk of error

Both players serve and return hard and well
Muster’s serve is more powerful, but Chang’s is big too and he leads in count 62% to 53%. Both players with 3 aces - Muster from 45 first serves, Chang 53
Both moving very well to return and hitting sturdily. Chang’s forced to block back more often, Muster almost always gets a swing off

Muster plays runaround FH returns in deuce court, leaving the court open. Hits the return sturdily enough to make it not easy for Chang to attack with BH cc

Chang directing 60% serves to FH looks a bit odd. Both of Muster’s return look rock solid. Bias to FH is created largely due to his extreme angled serving in ad court, where he virtually always goes out wide with first serve. But between all the serves directed to FH and Muster running around to hit FHs to second serves, Muster’s ended up with an odd looking 60 FH returns to just 15 BHs. He misses just 2 BH returns all match (also, 2 runaround FHs)

More orthodox directions from Muster - 19% to FH, 74% to BH. His stronger serve nets him an 18% to 12% advantage in freebies. A good start
Winning 60% second serve points and 52% second return points - a good continuation of in court superiority

Match Progression
Chang’s near zoning at the start, breaks for 3-1 lead, has 0-40 for 5-1 lead before Muster manages to scrape out the hold and serves for the first set at 5-3

During this phase, he’s serving pretty big, including from an extreme position out wide to Muster’s FH in ad court (continues to do both all match). He’s harder hitter off the ground, pushes Muster back and is on point with his finishing FHs, while mixing in popping forward to end at net. At 0-40, with 3 break points for 5-1 lead, he messes up a bit by missing big point ending FHs instead of coming forward behind less powerful shots. Upto this stage, both ploys had been working for him, but the game goes on for 14 points, Chang has another break point too, but he doesn’t come in once. He does miss 3 FH winner attempts, though 2 of them are good shot choices

Muster turns things around impressively. He steps up a bit to challenge for control of rally and is successful. Not that he’d been particularly passive earlier, but Chang had been that much more proactive in seeking and holding initiative. Muster had used to the net well even when Chang was zoning, and continues to do so with success during the turnaround

Great game by Muster to break for 4-5 with Chang serving for the set, with 3 winners (FHV, FH cc and FH inside-out). More than just the winners, its his overpowering Chang during the rallies leading up to the winners that’s telling. Chang helps a touch by missing an easy FHV at 0-15, but he only wins 1 point in the game

Hard hitting game ending with errors gets Muster second break before he serves it out

A great set of tennis. Power hitting combined with net play, good hefty serving, excellent retrieving and defence, some top notch finishing shots from both players. Chang’s brief stumble with the point-ending baseline shots at 4-1 probably costs him the set, though maintaining the standard he’d shown is asking a lot and Muster’s typically tough in those rallies too. And Muster starts high of quality but finds Chang just as strong and more eager to command to fall behind early on, but turns it around by upping his force and wrestling command away from Chang

Muster continues to dictate more often than not in second set, and gets more comfortable returning Chang’s very wide serves out wide to FH. He beats down Chang from the back, who makes a few too many aggressive shots. Chang has his fair share of being in control of rallies too - he doesn’t just passively slide into defensive role in face of Muster stepping up. Comfy 6-2 set for Muster

Things change a bit in third set again, with Chang coming to net more often than before. 21/34 approaches are in the set. Muster doesn’t dial back coming in either, which he’d done moderately (and with excellent judgement) all match. Chang’s BH stumbles a little in the hard hitting rallies

Things are on serve at 3-3 when there are 3 breaks in a row. Muster breaks first when on break point, he fends back 2 smashes, Chang back away from net and Muster slaps a BH dtl winner from well up the court

Chang hadn’t had a break point since the crucial 0-40 hold in middle of first set, but snaps that streak with panache by breaking to 15 right after. Double fault and missing a putaway easy FH from Muster helps, but Chang’s at net - including once behind the return - to win the other two points

Another terrific game sees the run of breaks reach 3. There are 4 winners in the middle, most coming out of good or great rallies with Muster striking a runaround FH inside-in return. Either side of the winners is Chang missing inside-in FHs to put Muster up 5-4

Muster serves out to 30. Chang missing an OH on first point - he’s smashed well, and often been called upon to hit multiple smashes to end points. Muster loses a rare net point after that but keeps his nose in front amidst errors for rest of game to end the match

Summing up, a high quality, hard hitting contest with two players competing for lead role in baseline rallies. Muster grabs it more often than not. He’s a little stronger of shot and has more variety in changing direction, particularly BH line or an extra angled cc shot. Chang stumbles some in missing point ending FHs that he’s pressed to go for because nothing short of such calibre shots are sure to end points

Both players scamper and retrieve very well. Muster is a little more successful in defence because Chang’s power of shot isn’t quite as good as his
Both players come to net while overpowering the other to finish points. Muster’s almost flawless there, Chang a little less so
Both players serve hard and return consistently and usually firmly. Muster has slightly bigger serve, Chang makes higher lot of first serves

All pretty close, with Muster a little better at almost everything to come away with an impressive win

 

[Hard Court]

Thanks for posting this! A lot to chew on. Interesting that Muster served to Chang's backhand such a high %. It seemed to work as he was only broke twice during the match.

 

[mindmaster]

I don't know if there is anything to do for Chang to hurt Muster on Clay. I think the best tactic for Chang is to just play his normal play and believe that if he fights every point like crazy he might then have a slim chance to win. I don't know if Chang's endurance would last in a grueling baseline battle with muster though if he is the defender almost in every rally.

 

[Drob]

of the many players you stat, how do you rate Muster BH?

 

[Waspsting]

of the many players you stat, how do you rate Muster BH?

I don't have anywhere near enough matches for Muster to compare him from stats perspective to many of the others I've looked at more closely

But I'm sure its good. Doesn't miss much, which is main stronghold of his (and most players') BHs. Has good, bludgeoning force. I'd be surprised if it broke down regularly on any surface

Given his repuation and record, possibility would be that its a 'clay courters' BH, but I don't see any reason for that to be either. Not an abnormally large swing, don't see any reason it would be unduly rushed/troubled regularly on faster surfaces (though obviously, everyones more rushed the faster the surface)

Strong sturdy BH is almost a given for any lefty baseliner from '90s onward, what with the shift to big FHs being prize weapon for so many players (as opposed to net play prior to that)

But Muster's record off clay is unimpressive enough to leave open possibility that he just had technical weakness' (for example, an exploitable BH) outside the dirt. It would surprise me to find it to be so though, based on what little I've statted (meaning, watched very, very closely)

Of the '90s guys, he's by some distance the most impressive clay courter

Kafelnikov, Stich, Corretja, Moya... these guys would be lucky to take a set off the breakthrough '05-'06 Nadal - let alone more mature versions. Muster, no... he's tough as old boots, strong off both sides, a scamperer. he could be competitive

 

[mindmaster]

It would be great to see prime Muster playing on clay against Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Federer. I think he could beat any of them Fed would lose easily as against Nadal. Muster could hit those heavy topspins to Federer's backhand all day and get errors or short easy balls. I think Muster would be very hard for Nadal to beat too, because he can hit heavy topspins just like rafa which would force Nadal to hit from far behind the baseline, Muster could outlast Nadal physically in a very long match, but if Rafa was at his very best form then nobody has a chance against him on clay. Ferrer and Murray would give a good fight but would be outlasted by Muster in most matches. Both has/had endless stamina but muster would be dictating the game with his stronger shots. Djokovic would be very hard opponent. He is definitely one of the best clay court players ever. I think it would depend much of how old racket technology they would use. About 2005 racket technology would be quite fair. And it would be very tough match for both.

 

[buscemi]

Of the '90s guys, he's by some distance the most impressive clay courter

If we're talking about most impressive clay courter of the '90s, I think Courier (2 French Open titles, 3-2 against Muster on clay, 2-0 at the French Open) and, if he counts as a '90s guy, Kuerten (3 French Open titles, 2-0 against Muster on clay) might have a say.

If we're talking about most impressive backhand for '90s guy, I think Kuerten (again, if he counts), clearly takes the cake.

 

[Gizo]

Pre-1995, I considered Muster's backhand to be a weakness, as did his fellow players. He clearly put in a lot of time and hard work to improve it. His much improved backhand was evident and on show in 1995, and really stood out to me during his Italian Open final victory against Bruguera.

It was now far more powerful, his cross court backhand was more effective and landed deeper, and it gave him more options at his disposal from the baseline during rallies.

 

[mindmaster]

Muster was the most impressive clay court player of 90's and should have more roland garros titles. He was unbelieveble in playing almost every week going to a finals in most tournaments he played.. He was impossible to beat from back of the court on clay if he didn't have a bad day. His weakness was to play against super offensive players who didn't give him a rhythm in match. Bruguera was probably better player against serve and volley players than Muster. Physically and mentally he was as tough as a clay court player can be. It would have been iteresting to see how he would have played in 1989 when he was just getting to a great form making his first Masters final in Miami, but he was hit by a car from drunk driver before that final. That year Chang won a Roland Garros so he would have had a great chance to win his first slam in that year without that accident. He was a real beast on court and I think he loved it when match became a real mental battle. He knew how to make other players be afraid of him. He was a machine on court who never got tired in matches. He was same level on clay in 95-96 as Rafa was in 2005-2006. But Rafa could not play as many matches as Muster was able to play. He gets injured because he trains by spending all his training on court. He should take example of Ferrer's training regiments. He trains a lot out of court and that is why he didn't get injured and same with Muster. Gym and jogging is a must for tennis players to stay in good health. Ferrer had a habit of warming up to training session by jogging first 10km and he made crazy amount of all kind of moves on gym like making 200 sit ups just to get warmed for a real training,

 

[buscemi]

Muster was the most impressive clay court player of 90's and should have more roland garros titles. He was unbelieveble in playing almost every week going to a finals in most tournaments he played.. He was impossible to beat from back of the court on clay if he didn't have a bad day. His weakness was to play against super offensive players who didn't give him a rhythm in match. Bruguera was probably better player against serve and volley players than Muster. Physically and mentally he was as tough as a clay court player can be. It would have been iteresting to see how he would have played in 1989 when he was just getting to a great form making his first Masters final in Miami, but he was hit by a car from drunk driver before that final. That year Chang won a Roland Garros so he would have had a great chance to win his first slam in that year without that accident. He was a real beast on court and I think he loved it when match became a real mental battle. He knew how to make other players be afraid of him. He was a machine on court who never got tired in matches. He was same level on clay in 95-96 as Rafa was in 2005-2006. But Rafa could not play as many matches as Muster was able to play. He gets injured because he trains by spending all his training on court. He should take example of Ferrer's training regiments. He trains a lot out of court and that is why he didn't get injured and same with Muster. Gym and jogging is a must for tennis players to stay in good health. Ferrer had a habit of warming up to training session by jogging first 10km and he made crazy amount of all kind of moves on gym like making 200 sit ups just to get warmed for a real training,

Tough for me to see Muster as the most impressive clay court player of the '90s when Courier won 6/7 sets against him at the French Open and won two titles there vs. Muster's one. And I'm not sure how you're counting Kuerten in terms of '90s vs. '00s, but with his 3 French Open titles and 2-0 record against Muster on clay, he was an overall more impressive clay court player.

 

[Mustard]

Tough for me to see Muster as the most impressive clay court player of the '90s when Courier won 6/7 sets against him at the French Open and won two titles there vs. Muster's one. And I'm not sure how you're counting Kuerten in terms of '90s vs. '00s, but with his 3 French Open titles and 2-0 record against Muster on clay, he was an overall more impressive clay court player.

Courier didn't play that many clay tournaments, though.

 

[Musterrific]

Tough for me to see Muster as the most impressive clay court player of the '90s when Courier won 6/7 sets against him at the French Open and won two titles there vs. Muster's one. And I'm not sure how you're counting Kuerten in terms of '90s vs. '00s, but with his 3 French Open titles and 2-0 record against Muster on clay, he was an overall more impressive clay court player.

Hard to compare - Kuerten benefitted from never facing Muster at his peak.

 

[mindmaster]

I know Muster has underachieved in French. He had some very bad years on early 90's. But he was almost unbeatable in 1995-96. Yes Courier was better clay court player in early 90's but Muster got tougher later. I'm sure Muster won most tournaments on clay in 90's. He could play week after week playing his best tennis every match. His game looked much more of a clay court player than Courier, but off course there are no style points in tennis. I think Muster would deserve more french open titles. Players like Bruguera he beats every time. Jim hits very hard flat shots which is difficult to answer with topspin shots. They are very different players and hard to compare.

 

[mindmaster]

When Kuerten is performing his best he would beat Muster but that's not so simple. Musters strength is that he is so consistent while Kuerten has some lapses in his concentration. I have seen their match in 1997 French. And it was a rollercoaster like I could imagine their match to be. Kuerten playing brilliant shots at some moments then has worse moments so their match is a battle of consistency or talent. Muster was more consistent and Kuerten's best game was better but he couldn't produce it all the time.

 

[mindmaster]

It was weird how Muster lost his game suddenly on clay after playing his best hard court season ever. It would have been expected that he does even better on clay. I believe he lost his motivation as winning tournament's had become too automatic thing for him. He played huge amount of tournaments winning them week after week and when you start to just expect winning tournaments by going out there playing without a real hunger for win you just start to lose matches you used to win before. You are fighting on court but something is just missing. It has happened to me too after I played almost perfect summer one year. I was playing maybe even more than before but I didn't have a real hunger to win and I losed even though I tried my best on court but my game was like muster's based on consistency and mental toughness. Muster was probably thinking that it's a piece of cake winning all clay tournaments when he was playing so well on hard courts.

 

[Gizo]

I find it very difficult to compare Courier against other clay court titans, given that he only played in 168 matches on clay during his career, according to the ATP website. That exact number might not be fully accurate - there are plenty of errors with stats on the ATP website, especially those regarding 'older' eras (and they disgracefully state that the legendary Lapentti's 5 set record was 29-16 instead of the correct 30-16 - boo !).

But it was clear that he played in significantly fewer matches on clay than any other player, that both started their career during the open era and then went on to win a clay major (so excluding Rosewall, Laver and Gimeno - though Rosewall in-particular may still have played in more clay court matches during the open era than him), apart from Chang who is very close behind with 165 listed clay court matches.

To only play in 168 clay court matches during his career, and still almost win 3 consecutive RG titles, alongside back to back Italian Open titles, is remarkable efficiency. The way that during his pomp, he'd make pretty rare tournament appearances on clay, before proceeding to swat aside players brought up on surface, who typically looked like they could rally all day long on it, was incredibly impressive. Bruguera for example played in 263 more listed clay court matches than him (431 vs. 168), before we get to Muster's total.

 

[Musterrific]

It was weird how Muster lost his game suddenly on clay after playing his best hard court season ever. It would have been expected that he does even better on clay. I believe he lost his motivation as winning tournament's had become too automatic thing for him. He played huge amount of tournaments winning them week after week and when you start to just expect winning tournaments by going out there playing without a real hunger for win you just start to lose matches you used to win before. You are fighting on court but something is just missing. It has happened to me too after I played almost perfect summer one year. I was playing maybe even more than before but I didn't have a real hunger to win and I losed even though I tried my best on court but my game was like muster's based on consistency and mental toughness. Muster was probably thinking that it's a piece of cake winning all clay tournaments when he was playing so well on hard courts.

It's been discussed here that in '97 Muster switched to a longer racquet (bigger head size too I think, but I'm not entirely sure) to enable a more offensive playing style in order to have more success on hardcourts, which worked for him brilliantly. The problem is that the change messed up his clay court game, and he was never able to fully recover it.

 

[Mustard]

It was weird how Muster lost his game suddenly on clay after playing his best hard court season ever.

The change of racquet for 1997 was the reason. It enabled him to play better on hardcourts, i.e. serve better, volley better, hit more flat. On clay, it hurt him, as it became harder to hit the necessary topspin. In 1998, Muster played with his 1997 racquet on hardcourt, but switched to his 1996 racquet elsewhere. It improved Muster's clay consistency in 1998, but no tournaments won. Muster started tinkering a lot then, and by his own admission "hated it", saying he felt like a Formula One driver fiddling about with the engines, a big reason for him walking away in 1999, as he said he was working harder than ever but his results were getting worse and worse.

 

[buscemi]

When Kuerten is performing his best he would beat Muster but that's not so simple. Musters strength is that he is so consistent while Kuerten has some lapses in his concentration. I have seen their match in 1997 French. And it was a rollercoaster like I could imagine their match to be. Kuerten playing brilliant shots at some moments then has worse moments so their match is a battle of consistency or talent. Muster was more consistent and Kuerten's best game was better but he couldn't produce it all the time.

This sounds fair to me. Muster was more consistent than Kuerten, but Kuerten had a higher gear he could enter.

 

[mindmaster]

The change of racquet for 1997 was the reason. It enabled him to play better on hardcourts, i.e. serve better, volley better, hit more flat. On clay, it hurt him, as it became harder to hit the necessary topspin. In 1998, Muster played with his 1997 racquet on hardcourt, but switched to his 1996 racquet elsewhere. It improved Muster's clay consistency in 1998, but no tournaments won. Muster started tinkering a lot then, and by his own admission "hated it", saying he felt like a Formula One driver fiddling about with the engines, a big reason for him walking away in 1999, as he said he was working harder than ever but his results were getting worse and worse.

I have heard that he had some problems with racquets. Still I would not expect him to suddenly be unable to get past first rounds in clay tournaments. But I understand that problems with racquets can take away your confidence and then you lose that mental toughness as you become unsure what to do in matches. His mentality has changed to playing more attacking tennis than before and it's hard to change back to more patient hitting. I think he had done okay on clay season if he just played like he did on hard courts and believed in himself. I think he played pretty well in that Kuerten match and if he had been able to win that match I believe he would have been a real contender for a title. Does someone know what racquet he chose to use in that French Open?

 

[Mustard]

I have heard that he had some problems with racquets. Still I would not expect him to suddenly be unable to get past first rounds in clay tournaments. But I understand that problems with racquets can take away your confidence and then you lose that mental toughness as you become unsure what to do in matches. His mentality has changed to playing more attacking tennis than before and it's hard to change back to more patient hitting. I think he had done okay on clay season if he just played like he did on hard courts and believed in himself. I think he played pretty well in that Kuerten match and if he had been able to win that match I believe he would have been a real contender for a title. Does someone know what racquet he chose to use in that French Open?

At the 1997 French Open? Muster used the Kneissl Tom's Reach Machine racquet, with a 28-inch frame. Kuerten was using a luxilon poly string in his racquet, way ahead of the curve there, and probably a huge reason as to why Muster, and later Medvedev and Kafelnikov, proved unable to shake Kuerten off.

 

[mindmaster]

At the 1997 French Open? Muster used the Kneissl Tom's Reach Machine racquet, with a 28-inch frame. Kuerten was using a luxilon poly string in his racquet, way ahead of the curve there, and probably a huge reason as to why Muster, and later Medvedev and Kafelnikov, proved unable to shake Kuerten off.

okay thanks for information. I remember how my game improved very much as I finally changed my old racquet to a bigger frame racquet. When hitting heavy topspin I think bigger frame helps a lot. That changing technology is ruining this game to more one dimensional than it used to be back in the good days.

 

[Musterrific]

I think he played pretty well in that Kuerten match and if he had been able to win that match I believe he would have been a real contender for a title.

I think you're right - had he held on to the break he had in the fifth set against Kuerten, he would have had a favourable draw the rest of the way, facing Medvedev, Kafelnikov, Dewulf, and his pigeon Bruguera in the final. Hilariously, I think the qualifier Dewulf would have been the toughest matchup for him

Sigh...golden opportunity blown, Thomas.

 

[mindmaster]

Yeah Kuerten looked tired in that fifth set so it looked obvious that muster would win, but I don't really remember what happened then. Kuerten probably found some energy to produce a few more good games, as I don't remember Muster choking that lead. It is often very hard to finish matches against players who can outlast you when he plays well, when they are close to lose a match they often start to hit freely and everything goes in suddenly and they find their game. From then on its hard to stop them. I have experienced that same thing very often when I have played against players who has better strokes than I

 

[mindmaster]

I think you're right - had he held on to the break he had in the fifth set against Kuerten, he would have had a favourable draw the rest of the way, facing Medvedev, Kafelnikov, Dewulf, and his pigeon Bruguera in the final. Hilariously, I think the qualifier Dewulf would have been the toughest matchup for him

Sigh...golden opportunity blown, Thomas.

Yeah Dewulf probably had the best record against Muster from those player. it would have been awful to see Muster losing to Dewulf once more after taking care of those all tough players first

 

[Musterrific]

Yeah Kuerten looked tired in that fifth set so it looked obvious that muster would win, but I don't really remember what happened then. Kuerten probably found some energy to produce a few more good games, as I don't remember Muster choking that lead. It is often very hard to finish matches against players who can outlast you when he plays well, when they are close to lose a match they often start to hit freely and everything goes in suddenly and they find their game. From then on its hard to stop them. I have experienced that same thing very often when I have played against players who has better strokes than I

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that once Kuerten went down 3-0 in the fifth set, he was tired, dejected, and resigned to losing, so with nothing to lose he just started taking huge cuts at the ball and they happened to consistently land in and turned around the match. As a Muster fan it was incredibly frustrating for me to watch. At the time I considered it one of the worst losses of Muster's career, losing from a winning position at RG against a bum that nobody had ever heard of. However, considering all the other great players Kuerten managed to battle past that year, and then win RG 2 more times and even become the #1 player, the loss doesn't sting quite as much as before.

 

[Musterrific]

Yeah Dewulf probably had the best record against Muster from those player. it would have been awful to see Muster losing to Dewulf once more after taking care of those all tough players first

I'll never get over the fact that Muster lost to that MUG in front of his home crowd in the final of Vienna of all places, during his most dominant, peak period. Ugh.

 

[mindmaster]

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that once Kuerten went down 3-0 in the fifth set, he was tired, dejected, and resigned to losing, so with nothing to lose he just started taking huge cuts at the ball and they happened to consistently land in and turned around the match. As a Muster fan it was incredibly frustrating for me to watch.

Yeah that's what I meant when player giving up of winning often starts to hit freely and sometimes every shot goes in which happened in that match I think and that was very frustrating. Sometimes people think it's mental strength when player is losing and makes a big comeback, but I think much more difficult effort to win after losing a set after huge lead and then forget what happened and refocus to win a whole set and match again.

 

[Mustard]

I'll never get over the fact that Muster lost to that MUG in front of his home crowd in the final of Vienna of all places, during his most dominant, peak period. Ugh.

Muster also had to save 3 match points against Dewulf in a first round match earlier that year, also in Austria, at St. Poelten on clay. Muster went on to win the tournament.

 

[Musterrific]

Muster also had to save 3 match points against Dewulf in a first round match earlier that year, also in Austria, at St. Poelten on clay. Muster went on to win the tournament.

I would definitely trade the Vienna title for the St. Poelten one, and I'm sure Muster would too.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Of the '90s guys, he's by some distance the most impressive clay courter

Kafelnikov, Stich, Corretja, Moya... these guys would be lucky to take a set off the breakthrough '05-'06 Nadal - let alone more mature versions. Muster, no... he's tough as old boots, strong off both sides, a scamperer. he could be competitive

I love your write-ups but with those two statements I strongly disagree. On paper, one can well argue, that out of all FO winners in the 90s, Muster has the worst FO record. The only one debatable is Gomes depending on what you value more one semi or three quarters. I know clay courter encompasses more than just FO, but it is still the most important one so given the above at the very least the “by some distance” is highly questionable.
As for Nadal: he is Muster’s ultimate nightmare matchup as he is the improved version who does everything better. I cannot see Muster being in any shape or form competitive.

 

[Milanez82]

I love your write-ups but with those two statements I strongly disagree. On paper, one can well argue, that out of all FO winners in the 90s, Muster has the worst FO record. The only one debatable is Gomes depending on what you value more one semi or three quarters. I know clay courter encompasses more than just FO, but it is still the most important one so given the above at the very least the “by some distance” is highly questionable.
As for Nadal: he is Muster’s ultimate nightmare matchup as he is the improved version who does everything better. I cannot see Muster being in any shape or form competitive.

Nadal is pretty much everyone's nightmare on clay. Djokovic peak hitting could push him but the level to hit Nadal off the court was never sustainable(except that one time with Soderling... Kind of like that one time Krajicek got red hot vs Pete).

As opposed to previous clay court specialist Nadal could easily create offense and get you on backfoot(like those 25 or whatever ridiculous winners in 5th set of RG13 sf) and he could certainly top spin his shots into infinity until a proper short return falls back.

So I'm confident too he would smoke those 90s clay courters and Kuerten with his one handed bh would struggle mightily too.

 

[Musterrific]

Nadal is pretty much everyone's nightmare on clay. Djokovic peak hitting could push him but the level to hit Nadal off the court was never sustainable(except that one time with Soderling... Kind of like that one time Krajicek got red hot vs Pete).

As opposed to previous clay court specialist Nadal could easily create offense and get you on backfoot(like those 25 or whatever ridiculous winners in 5th set of RG13 sf) and he could certainly top spin his shots into infinity until a proper short return falls back.

So I'm confident too he would smoke those 90s clay courters and Kuerten with his one handed bh would struggle mightily too.

You're really underestimating Kuerten. He took his backhand very early, hitting on the rise. It was a deadly shot.

 

[Milanez82]

You're really underestimating Kuerten. He took his backhand very early, hitting on the rise. It was a deadly shot.

But could he do it time and time again against top spins and defense never seen before that turned into offense with that deadly FH dtl?
And we know more often then not RG finals are usually on sunny hot days giving an even more edge to Rafa.