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5. Thomas
Muster
Age:
29
Height:
5'11"
Weight:
165
Birthplace:
Leibnitz,
Austria
Highest Rank:
1 (February
1996)
Current:
5
Career Titles:
44
Best U.S. Open Finish:
Quarterfinals, 1993, '94,
'96
Survival of the
Fittest: "Every match to me is a battle, and everything
within the limits of the rules is all
right."
How to Win Friends and Influence
People: Muster has been known to mock opponents, spit toward them
and hit them with shots that he could have easily put away.
"If Muster isn't the most hated player on Tour, he's a
close second," says Wayne
Ferreira.
Nickname: The Animal, or Mus-Terminator (Muster and Arnold
Schwarzenegger are from the same Austrian
province).
One-Trick
Pony: Entering 1997, 40 of Muster's 42 titles came on
clay.
Woof,
Woof: "He [plays] like a bulldog who's chewing on your leg
and will not stop chewing, no matter what. When you play
him on clay, you've got the ultimate grinder on your hands.
It's not a pretty picture." —Sampras on
Muster
6. Alex
Corretja
Age:
23
Height:
5'11"
Weight:
155
Birthplace:
Barcelona,
Spain
Highest Rank:
6
(Current)
Career Titles:
4
Best U.S. Open Result:
Quarterfinals,
1996
Dubious
Achievement: Corretja was 0-6 against players ranked in the Top 10 in
1996.
Hey, Aren't You That Guy Sampras Played When He Puked on
the Court at the
Open?: "Most of the people in the States know me for a
match I lost, so
I hope they can know me
[someday for] my victories, not my losses."—Corretja,
reflecting on his epic five-set loss to Sampras in the
quarterfinals of the 1996 Open. During the fifth set,
Sampras vomited prodigiously on the
court.
Let's Try That
Again: Down match point in the fifth set tiebreaker against
Sampras, Corretja
double-faulted.
Profiles by Stephen Thomas
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