Muster Escapes Added Penalty For Davis Cup Dust-Up In Brazil
Thomas Muster avoided a suspension over his Davis Cup doubles walkout when the International Tennis Federation decided Monday the $8,000 fine it already had imposed was enough punishment.
Muster strutted angrily across the court in Sao Paulo, Brazil, waving his racket and trying to draw the umpire’s attention to fans he said had been spitting, cursing and throwing objects at him. They even tried to blind him with mirrors.
Then he walked off to the jeers of the crowd, and his Austrian teammates defaulted their singles matches, handing Brazil a 4-1 victory and a place in the World Group.
When Muster appeared before the ITF’s Davis Cup Committee Monday, he faced being suspended from future matches in the competition as well as added fines.
Sweden was seeded No. 1 and the United States No. 2 for the 1997 Davis Cup World Group.
The other top six seeds in order were France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia. The draw for the ‘97 competition will be held today with eight other teams being positioned in the 16-team bracket.