Thomas Muster played at a high level in Monte Carlo 1990, kicking off the first Masters 1000 event on clay in style! On April 1, 1989, Muster experienced one of the worst days of his life. A drunk driver hit the Austrian in Miami just a few hours after the semi-final victory.
With a nasty left knee injury, Thomas went home and underwent surgery. Muster stayed away from the court until September and started all over in 1990 with the Adelaide title. Thomas opted to play on clay since the end of February instead of flying to Indian Wells and Miami.
Muster won two Challengers and one ATP title in Cairo, Casablanca and Agadir and moved closer to reentering the top-20. The Austrian did not play well in Estoril and Barcelona before entering the first Masters 1000 tournament on clay in Monte Carlo.
Thomas produced five rock-solid victories to find himself in the title match. Marcelo Filippini, Martin Jaite, Jim Courier and Juan Aguilera took only 24 games against Muster in eight sets, as the Austrian advanced into the semis.
Seeking the final spot, Muster ousted world no. 152 Henri Leconte 6-2, 6-3 to remain on the title course. The struggling Frenchman had barely scored ATP wins before Monte Carlo that year. He found form in front of the home fans and tried to become the first French champion in Monte Carlo since Pierre Darmon in 1963!
Nonetheless, Muster proved too strong in the semi-final clash, beating Leconte in an hour and 12 minutes to advance into the final against Andrei Chesnokov.
Thomas Muster beat Henri Leconte in Monte Carlo 1990.
The Austrian had the upper hand from start to finish.
He controlled the pace on serve and return and preserved energy for the week’s most crucial encounter, as Leconte could not follow his pace. Muster grabbed five breaks and gave serve away once, never feeling pressure from the other side.
Henri netted a forehand in the encounter’s first game to suffer an instant break before creating three return chances in the next one. He squandered them and pushed Thomas 2-0 in front. Leconte got his name on the scoreboard with a smash winner in the third game and earned more opportunities on the return a few minutes later.
Muster stayed calm and opened a 3-1 gap. An incredible lob winner in game six delivered a hold at love for the Austrian and moved him 4-2 up. He maintained his advantage and landed another lob winner to grab another break and open a 5-2 gap.
Serving for the set in game eight, Muster fended off a break chance with a volley winner at the net and wrapped up the encounter’s first part with a backhand winner for 6-2. Like in the opener, Leconte had to chase the result right from the start, giving serve away in the first game and pushing Muster a set and a break up.
The Frenchman broke back in the fourth game to level the score at 2-2 before spraying a forehand mistake in the next one to fall behind again. Thomas moved 4-2 up with a solid forehand attack in game six and placed a forehand winner in the eighth for 5-3.
Muster delivered another break a few minutes later when Leconte sent a volley long to celebrate the victory and book a place in the final.
