Thomas Muster Comeback...

[gzhpcu]

Thomas Muster, now 43 years old, wants to make a comeback on the ATP tour...

Read an interview in an Italian tennis magazine with Muster.

Some quotes:

"I am not playing for the money or for points, that is not my objective. I realized that I can compete with a lot of the boys, who respect me and have accepted me as one of the group."

"When I left tennis in 1999 I used to hate it, while now i have rediscovered the joy of training and playing. I am enjoying myself a lot more than I used to before. This is the only reason which made me want to return."

He got a wild card for the ATP Vienna tournament. Lost 2-6,6-7 to the eventual losing finalist. He looked pretty good too!
Here are some points played:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkoQL...eature=related

Some people say he is crazy, but I find it's great. He has lost about 30 lbs, is now in great shape, is having lots of fun and can certainly compete at the challenger level.

[stotty]

I seem to remember Borg making a comeback in his mid-thirties, which ended in disaster in terms of achievement. If it's about enjoyment then that's great...but if it's about a serious attempt to compete with younger men because you think you can, then that is a bit... well... sad. I don't care how good you've been, you can't compete with youth.

[gzhpcu]

Pancho Gonzalez still had great wins in his early 40's. It can be done...

In Muster's case, he has money and fame in Austria. He just wants to enjoy himself. He said he only wants to compete in challengers, no ambition at all.

We have an ATP challenger here in Lugano around June. Hope I can see him there...

[GeoffWilliams]

Sometimes if you believe you can compete, you can, and sometimes you cannot compete. He's going to lose every match, no matter how hard he trains, to any top 100 player.... How can a 43 yr. old beat a 22yr old in a running game? Tennis is not just about running. He's not a net player who can end points fast. He has no plan B. He has no druck.

[makhan67]

Thomas Muster has been an inspiration to many of us -- old enough to know him when he used to grind his way on clay.

OK, he can play for fun and occasional win here and there, but the game has overtaken him.

It's also a lesson for the young guns not to leave the game when they are still young (under 30 years of age).

Kim Clijsters is another example who called it a quit at the young age of 23 only to make a winning comeback a couple of years ago. As a mother she is enjoying more than she used to as a girl friend of Lleyton Hewit.

Do not leave the game, stay involved and stay the course. Good days will come after bad days.

Mahboob Khan
MKTA, Islamabad Club
Pakistan

[gzhpcu]

In late 1969, Gonzales won the Howard Hughes Open in Las Vegas and the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, beating, among others, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith (twice), Cliff Richey, and Arthur Ashe. He was 41 at the time...

OK,OK, Pancho Gonzalez is Pancho Gonzalez, and he had never retired..

Yet Muster overcame the broken leg due to the drunk driver in Florida. He has a lot of willpower.

He said he need match practice, and will play about 25 tournaments in 2011. He will probably be playing at the ATP challenger tournament we have here in Lugano at my tennis club in June next year. Sure hope so... I'll be rooting for him...

[uspta990770809]

Actually, he did retire

In late 1969, Gonzales won the Howard Hughes Open in Las Vegas and the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, beating, among others, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith (twice), Cliff Richey, and Arthur Ashe. He was 41 at the time...

OK,OK, Pancho Gonzalez is Pancho Gonzalez, and he had never retired..
...

Actually he had retired. He wasn't in the picture just before open tennis started in 1968. Through the middle and late 60's he left the full-time pro tour. I think he was teaching in Puerto Rico at one of the resort hotels at this time. Through the mid-60's the pro tour was dominated by Rosewall, Laver, Gimeno and Bucholtz. Gonzales was not part of the two tours that started up just before Open tennis: the 'Handsome Eight" and the WCT or were they the same. But their were two small tours for about 2 years before the French and Wimbledon decided to go Open.That's part of why it was such a big deal for Gonzales to win that long match with Pasarell at Wimbledon.

A better example for longevity might be Rosewall who made Wimbledon and USOpen finals at 39 and was still winning tournaments at 44. He didn't rely on a big serve like Pancho, but he never stopped playing and still did well in the 35's when he was in his 50's.

don