Bio
Date of birth:	2 October 1967
Turned pro:	1985
Career win-loss:	621:273 (singles)
Career titles:	44 in singles, 1 in doubles
Grand Slam wins:	1 singles: French Open 1995
Prize money:	12,266,977 dollars
Retired:	2011

He is one of the greatest players in clay court history. In a career that included many highs and lows, Thomas Muster won 44 tournaments of which 40 were on clay. His biggest success came in 1995 when he won the French Open. The Austrian was the world No. 1 for a total of six weeks.

Born in Styria, Thomas Muster first caught the eye as a junior when winning the 1985 Orange Bowl and finishing runner-up at the junior French Open. He turned pro immediately afterwards and won his first tournament in Hilversum in 1986. Four tournament wins in 1988 helped him break into the Top 20 for the first time. In 1989 he reached the semi-final of the Australian Open where he lost in four sets to Ivan Lendl, the then world No. 1. His highly promising career however came to an abrupt halt on 31 March 1989. Hours after beating Yannick Noah in the Key Biscayne semi-final, he was hit by a drunk driver and suffered a serious knee injury. His opponent in the final would have been Ivan Lendl. After being out of the game for six months, Muster celebrated his comeback by playing Lendl in an exhibition match.

1995 marked the best year of his career. Between February and July he won 40 matches in succession on clay impressing people with his irrepressible never-say-die spirit. Like for instance at the tournament in Monaco. After winning his semi-final, he promptly collapsed but nevertheless was back on court next day for the final against Boris Becker. Two match points down, he turned the match around to eventually win in five sets. Later in May he went on to win his first Grand Slam by beating Michael Chang in the French Open final. On 12 February 1996 he became the world No. 1.

Thomas Muster’s last tournament win came at Key Biscayne in 1997. He retired in 1999 after his first round loss at the French Open. One year later he returned to the tour before finally retiring in 2011. Playing for his country Austria, Thomas Muster was highly successful in the Davis Cup. In 1990 he led his team to the semi-final against USA where he beat both Michael Chang and Andre Agassi. He was the Austrian Davis Cup captain from 2003 to 2006.

In 1995 Thomas Muster became the first player to win 12 singles tournaments in a season. It is a record he has shared on the ATP Tour with Roger Federer since 2006. He on the other hand is the sole holder of another record – he is the only world No. 1 in the open era not to have won a singles match at Wimbledon.

Thomas Muster received many awards during the course of his career including the Iron Man Award. In 1990 he was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year. Married for the second time, he has two children.