2 Responses to rg88becker_muster

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 25, 2025 at 11:52 am

   Points won by each set: | 30-17, 31-35, 51-41, 35-26 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   20 % Becker – 28 of 139
   9 % Muster – 12 of 127

   Even though two best Teutonic players born in the 60s, peers Becker of Germany & one month older Muster of Austria, spent together 14 years on tour (1985-99, both retired within a month), they met just three times. Their first meeting came at the time they were in the 21st year of their lives. In the 3rd set, in which the serve didn’t mean a lot (7 breaks in 9 games with BP chances), Becker [6] withstood a double mini-set point at 5-all (15/40) with serve-and-volley actions (prior to that moment he had been sporadically implementing this tactics). In the 4th set Muster [45] led 3:1* when chasing Becker’s volley, he stumbled, fell down rapidly and hit the metal advertisement with his left elbow. He pretended nothing dangerous happened, but it must have hurt because he lost 8 points in a row, and 5 successive games (he had a few points to get his fourth game though). Becker finished the 3.5 hour contest on court no. 1 with an ace, and lost in the next round to another left-hander, who was presenting a completely different style than Muster though.

   Serve & volley: Becker 14/26, Muster 0/1

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   July 25, 2025 at 12:19 pm

   ☆ Muster was almost invincible on clay in the years 1995-96, given the entire 90s he must be considered as a Top 5 player on this surface, therefore with his 40 clay-court titles, it’s quite bizarre he reached the last eight (or better) at Roland Garros just three times: semifinal ’90, champion ’95, quarterfinal ’98 – the same number of quarterfinal matches he experienced in Melbourne and New York. But the truth is, he dealt with difficult draws in Paris (also in the year of his triumph), losing only to quality opponents since his first appearance in 1985, especially pondering about the years 1988-99 when he was labelled as a clay-court specialist:

   1988 (third round): Becker [6]… 1-6, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6
   1989… he didn’t play due to serious injury
   1991 (first round): Sampras [6]… 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 4-6
   1992 (second round): Courier [1]… 1-6, 4-6, 4-6
   1993 (fourth round): Courier [2]… 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 2-6
   1994 (third round): Rafter [26]… 4-6, 7-5, 3-6, 3-6
   1996 (fourth round): Stich [16]… 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 6-7
   1997 (third round): Kuerten [66]… 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6
   1999 (first round): Lapentti [26]… 6-2, 2-6, 1-6, 6-7

   Six times beaten by players who sooner or later reached the top. The defeats to Becker, Sampras, Rafter & Stich, for whom clay was the most difficult surface, may surprise, but Muster – with his standard position operating ~3 meters behind the baseline as a receiver, and rather average backhand – was simply struggling facing serve-and-volleyers everywhere. With the expected loss to Lapentti, Muster finished his career, but he was ranked relatively high, no. 47; that year Muster’s peer Filippini advanced to the quarterfinal, thus it’s easy to imagine Muster could have done the same finding himself in Filippini’s section of the draw

   The best clay-courters by the Open Era decades:
   1970s – Borg (96% win/loss record at French Open)
   1980s – Wilander (84%)
   2000s & 10s – Nadal (97%)

   If Muster (71%) had lost two French Open finals (apart from his ’95 triumph), he would have been considered the best clay-courter of the 90s,
   instead he’s in the mix with Courier (81%) & Bruguera (76%), each of them conquered Paris twice

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