Good Humor Fails Muster After His Loss to Henman

Thomas Muster, the renowned Austrian jokester, was only kidding around with Tim Henman during their first-round match at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. He rushed the net to get to a ball, couldn’t stop his forward progress, skirted the net, raced toward Henman with an upraised racket and chased the slender 21-year-old nearly into the locker room.

It’s all part of the zany behavior opponents have come to expect from the lighthearted Muster.

“I said in the locker room I wasn’t scared to admit that I was frightened, so I thought the best thing to do was to keep running,” Henman said, only half kidding, regarding Muster’s convincingly menacing humor.

For Muster, the 1995 French Open champion, such light moments were few in his first-round match in which he lost to his opposite in terms of temperament and style. Henman, of Great Britain, defeated Muster, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4, on a warm and windy day at the U.S. Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows.

Even if only through jokes, Muster had some real frustration to process. Not only did the fifth-seeded Muster lose, he again had to fend off questions about alleged failed drug tests, the same sort of published rumors that have dogged the proudly muscle-bound player throughout his career.

His day pretty much summed up the fortunes of another French Open champion here. Fourth-seeded Iva Majoli, this year’s French titlist, fell to the hot-handed Sandrine Testud of France, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, in a second-round match.

At least two former winners at Roland Garros made it through Wednesday’s first round. Sergi Bruguera, who has won the French twice and was a finalist this year, came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Michael Tebbutt of Australia, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Monica Seles, a three-time French Open champion, advanced to the third round by defeating Tara Snyder of Houston, 6-2, 6-3.

To see Muster and Henman on court, it would seem an unfair matchup from a physical standpoint. Muster is burly and glowering, Henman is slight and usually wears a bland, unreadable expression. Muster’s game is about intimidation and power and seemingly endless energy. Muster pops out of his chair before time has expired during changeovers and whiles away the moments between points by bouncing on the balls of his feet or executing some complex calisthenics.

Henman possesses a potent serve--he fired 16 aces past Muster--but he has an elegant style in the mold of Stefan Edberg. As was Edberg, Henman is an effective volleyer. Proof of his good hands was Henman’s ability to absorb Muster’s heavy passing shots and send soft volleys back.

Muster’s style is no secret, and Henman knew that if he waited patiently on the baseline, an opening would present itself. When it did, Henman climbed all over the net and placed the ball in the corners where even the persistent Muster could not reach it.

Henman celebrated the victory but faced an ever-critical British media contingent afterward that questioned the No. 21-ranked player on his slippage: Henman was recently passed as Britain’s top player by the hard-serving Greg Rusedski, who is ranked No. 20.

“It’s probably the best thing for me,” Henman said of his intranational rivalry with the Canadian-born Rusedski. “With him overtaking me in the rankings, it’s going to spur me to try to have two British players in the Top 20.”

Muster doesn’t need rivalries to spur him; his own merciless expectations have done that. He has come back from a devastating knee injury. He has refashioned himself from a clay-court specialist to his status this summer as a hard-court terror. Thus, Muster’s first-round loss was hard to take.

So, too, was the resurfaced subject of drugs. Muster has tried for years, mostly without success, to round the edges of his G.I. Joe image by revealing personal tidbits such as the fact he paints, recently earned his pilot’s license and he’s most at home in Australia, where he has built a sprawling residence.

Still, his growling and hulking presence on court has lent thin credibility to stories that he has taken performance-enhancing drugs, although he has never tested positive in any of tennis’ periodic drug tests.

“I’m sick and tired of it; I’ve been hearing that all year,” Muster said. “I’ve heard comments about being tested positive at tournaments [that] I haven’t played at. It’s something that really [ticks] me off. That goes on for years and I don’t know where it comes from. . . .

“I don’t know, someone dislikes my style of play. Somebody has a problem with my attitude on court. But I am somebody who is really against [drugs], and I think that tennis should be a fair sport. There shouldn’t be drugs at all. I am for strong controls.”

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