“I fell into a lot of holes”

if Thomas Muster Once you start, you can write books. We have also heard about Styria for years Vienna City Hall Happy to accept this, he is now 57 years old ever since 2012 Erste Bank Open Championship Ambassador. In 2011 he played his last ATP match in Vienna against his rightful successor Dominic Thiem.

What Muster says about the Lower Austrian, who also ended his career on the city council, and why he did so Today's society in brief He goes.

Currier: You recently said that the end of Dominic Thiem's ​​career came too soon. Should he have played longer?

Thomas Muster: Many people took this as criticism from me. It wasn't meant that way at all, everyone should know for themselves when to stop. The only question I ask myself is why nothing happened after his US Open win. He wasn't playing well before his wrist injury either. You have to ask yourself, what have I achieved, do I need to set new goals? Then others kept winning. He fell into a hole..

Did you also fall into a hole after the French Open?

I fell down a lot of holes. The reason I didn't win much on clay in my later years is because I changed clubs. But I won a lot on hard courts. But everyone knew me as a fighter, I was basically lazy, and they often had to push me on the field, and then I gave it my all. I only have a little knowledge, but there are several factors why it stops working.

And she?

Of course the wrist was to blame, perhaps he was used to the protective position. The truth is that he made a lot of bad personnel decisions. To do this, you have to ask questions: Is he financially prepared? Or does he want to spend more time with his girlfriend? There are many players who have done this. You have to ask yourself: Where is my purpose in life? He is the only one who can answer that. I wasn't the most stable either, a career doesn't pass without a trace. I've played with painkillers for years. I've watched every game of his in the last four years and ask myself: Why is he so far away? I'm sorry I said years ago that I was better than I ever was.

Are comparisons with Thiem annoying? There are many experts who claim that he is the greatest Austrian tennis player.

You can't compare that at all. That was a completely different time. Also, how do you evaluate that? Are 55 finals better than four Grand Slam finals? I also won 44 titles. Also, one thing is true: number one is number one, and number three is number three.

I talked about the poor employee policy at Thiem. Does this mean family too? Father Wolfgang was coach, Brother Moritz was manager.

Withdrawal into the family should be viewed as a protective mechanism. Moreover, it is difficult to fire a family like a coach or manager.

Dominic Thiem had a different playing style than you. Are there any players who remind you of yourself?

Today everything is different. Today boys are born with golden shoes. They cannot enter the dirt with this. Today they see everything, and we had to fix our shoes ourselves. What worries me most today is political correctness. Today you are not allowed to do anything anymore, today you are not allowed to criticize anything anymore. When I remember the time when we used to insult each other in the squares, that no longer happens today. Of course there are still types, but they are not what they used to be.

Do we need more players like Nick Kyrgios?

Well, success also has to be true. John McEnroe demolished flower boxes at Wimbledon and then won the tournament.