‘I could have been dead’: Thomas Muster’s extraordinary comeback from Miami Open car crash
It’s April 1st 1989, and a 21-year-old Thomas Muster has just sealed one of the biggest wins of his career.
Victory over former French Open champion Yannick Noah has powered the Austrian into one of the biggest finals of his career to date at the Miami Open, where he is set to face world No 1 Ivan Lendl.
What happened next is one of the most shocking and horrifying incidents in tennis history, and is something that few would have ever bounced back from.
But Muster was no ordinary player, and what he would go on to achieve wrote his name into the record books.
This is the story of how Muster came back from a horror Miami Open car crash to claim Grand Slam success – and reach world No 1.
‘I could have been dead’
Heading into 1989, Muster had already won five ATP Tour titles and a run to a first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, where he lost to Lendl, helped propel him into the top 10.
The Miami Open was not a Masters 1000 title at this point, but was still a prestigious title to win, and the seventh seed’s run to the final did not come as a surprise.
On March 31st, Muster – one of the greatest competitors in ATP history – fought from two sets down to beat 12th seed Noah 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach what was an eighth career final.
Muster would have been a significant underdog against tennis great Lendl in the final, but in an unbelievable turn of events, he never got the chance to step onto the court.
In the early hours of April 1st, the Austrian was removing sports bags from the boot of his rental car when a drunk driver drove head-on directly into the vehicle.
The rental car was pushed back, and the 21-year-old found himself trapped under the rear wheels.
Muster was eventually freed, but both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee were completely severed.
Sustaining a serious injury to one of those ligaments can be disastrous for an athlete; to suffer simultaneous injuries to both is easily career-ending.
Muster had to default from the final and flew home to Austria for surgery, though he was acutely aware just how much worse the situation could have been.
“I could have been dead in Key Biscayne,” said Muster, speaking in 2017.
“It’s pretty good that I’m sitting here, that I’m not injured, I’m doing what I like to do, and I think looking back at my career, it’s something that I can be very happy with.”
A comeback for the ages
Many thought that, in the best-case scenario, Muster would be out for a year and effectively have to restart his career from scratch.
However, the Austrian had other ideas; just weeks after the accident, footage of him practicing while sitting in a specially designed bench went viral.
It was a testament to his single-minded determination, and – just six months after the accident – he returned to tennis.
Poignantly, his first appearance back on court was a special exhibition against Lendl, who flew to Vienna to face Muster before the Austrian’s comeback officially got underway.
The Austrian reached the quarter-final of his first event back in Barcelona, and reached a semi-final in Vienna in October, holding a 6-6 record in his comeback by the time the season ended.
He won his first title since the crash – and his sixth career title overall – at the Adelaide International in January 1990, though he was beaten in the third round of the Australian Open.
However, aided by a run to a first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo and ultimately a first Masters title in Rome, Muster returned to the top 10 of the ATP Rankings in May 1990.
Muster was the seventh seed at the ensuing French Open and reached the last four the first time, beaten by eventual champion Andres Gomez.
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Grand Slam glory and world No 1
Muster would end 1990 as the world No 7, though the following seasons provided their own challenges.
He had fallen to world No 35 by the end of 1991 and, despite winning his first Monte Carlo title, was only just back inside the top 20 by the end of 1992.
After returning to the top 10 by the end of 1993, Muster had again dropped down to world No 16 ahead of the start of the 1995 season – which proved to be the greatest of his career.
The Austrian won 12 titles – with 11 coming on clay – and at one point won 40 straight matches on the dirt, triumphing in Monte Carlo and Rome before a stunning run to the French Open title.
Seeded fifth in Paris, Muster beat future champions Albert Costa and Yevgney Kafelnikov in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, before downing 1989 winner Michael Chang 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the final.
It was the greatest individual triumph of his career, though he would achieve another huge milestone months later.
In February 1996, the 28-year-old rose to world No 1 for one week, and then held the top ranking for another five weeks across March and April.
Muster would never again win a Grand Slam title but, rather fittingly, he won his 44th and final career title in – believe it or not – Miami in 1997.
The second seed defeated Sergi Bruguera in straight sets to lift perhaps his biggest title outside of clay, retiring from the sport two years later.
“We don’t know what would have happened without the accident,” said Muster. “But all I can now, looking back, is that it’s turned out very well.”
