TENNIS ROUNDUP : Despite Bad Back, Muster Beats Krickstein for Title

Thomas Muster of Austria put his back problems behind him in beating Aaron Krickstein, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, Sunday to win the $1.2-million Monte Carlo Open in Monaco.

Muster was on the massage table until about five minutes before the match and wasn’t sure he was going to play. “Then I went out there feeling loose and I was able to play,” Muster said.

Muster put away Krickstein in 1 hour 40 minutes to win his 11th career title and earn $170,200.

Muster is ranked 37th in the world, Krickstein 24th.

Muster said his back began hurting during the semifinals Saturday. “I didn’t expect it to be that bad and it did not go away overnight,” he said.

Said Krickstein: “He was moving a lot better than I was and he was dictating the points.”

Krickstein was the last of the seeded players in the tournament that started with Boris Becker and Pete Sampras as the top attractions. Krickstein was seeded 16th.

Monica Seles won her 25th singles title, rallying to beat Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the International Championships of Spain at Barcelona.

Seles, the No. 1-ranked women’s player, improved to 9-0 against Sanchez Vicario. But it wasn’t until Seles held serve when trailing 3-2 in the third set and then followed that by breaking Sanchez Vicario that she felt in control.

“It was a very tough match,” Seles said. “I was a little luckier on a couple of points than she was. This wasn’t the first time I’ve had to work hard against her on clay.”

Sanchez Vicario’s inability to break Seles at 3-2 in the third was the turning point.