Austrian Too Much For Chang Muster Extends His Winning Streak With Decisive Victory In French Open

Maybe he isn’t unbeatable. But in this match, 10 years after turning pro, six years after a drunk driver shattered his knee, there was no way to stop Thomas Muster from at last becoming a Grand Slam champion.

Crowning his perfect clay-court season with the trophy he dreamed of as a child, Muster fused firepower and willpower to overcome Michael Chang in straight sets Sunday in the French Open final.

Suspense was shortlived, yet the play often was spectacular, with Chang battling tenaciously enough to bring out the best of Muster’s awe-inspiring claycourt talent.

“I don’t look at anyone as unbeatable. Everyone’s human,” Chang said after losing 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. “But there are times when some players are very, very tough to beat.”

Muster has been tough to beat for a long time, winning six tournaments in a row. The 121-minute final was his 30th straight victory, longest streak on the men’s tour since Ivan Lendl in 1985, and his 35th straight victory on clay, third-longest in the Open era.

It was the first Grand Slam title for Muster, 27, who is the first Austrian to win one of the four elite events. Fans in his hometown of Leibnitz, Austria, cheered every winning point as they watched a giant video screen in the main square.

His career appeared in jeopardy in 1989, when a drunk driver in Florida rammed into him as he stood behind his car, severing ligaments in his left knee.

Muster practiced groundstrokes while seated on a bench, later worked out on crutches, and made an astounding comeback just six months after surgery. But while he developed into one of the world’s top claycourt players, superstardom and Grand Slam success eluded him - until Sunday.

“I always believed I could do it,” he said. “It’s great that I could prove it today… that makes me happy even six years later.

Briefly, Chang looked capable of dashing Muster’s dream. The 23-year-old American - in his first Grand Slam final since winning here in 1989 - won an early service break and took a 4-1 lead.

But the match turned in the sixth game, when Chang lost a 0-40 advantage and failed to convert four break points as Muster refused to crack.

The Austrian won that game and 10 of the next 12 to take command. Often his groundstrokes seemed to gain intensity as a point progressed, until the crowd was gasping at their ferocity.

“From 5-2 on, the tide swung quite a bit … things didn’t fall my way,” Chang said.

Muster dominated the second set, winning it in 30 minutes. Broken in the third game to fall behind 2-1, the usually impassive Chang yelled at himself, but Muster won the next three games anyway.

In the seventh game of the final set, Chang tried desperately to hold serve again, at one point making an incredible retrieve of an overhead only to have Muster answer with a drop volley to gain break point. Muster won the game by lobbing back a Chang overhead, then taking the offensive to ram home a ground-stroke winner on the tape. Smelling victory, he thrust his fist in the air.

Chang broke back to level it at 4-4, but promptly lost his serve again, enabling Muster to serve for the match. When Chang hit wide on the second match point, Muster fell on his back, jumped up to greet Chang, then leaped into the seats to hug his coach, Ronald Leitgeb.

“It’s a lot of pressure off me now,” said Muster, who earned $660,000. “When I was a child, I was dreaming about winning this tournament.”