BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Thomas Muster turns his racket around during a playful moment in last year's ATP semifinals.
(AP photo)
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MASON -- It was not planned. Thomas Muster simply had fun during last year's Great American Insurance ATP Championship. So did the fans who watched him.
He interacted with the crowd, talked to himself, smiled and was playful on the court throughout the tournament.
While advancing to the final, where he lost in straight sets to Pete Sampras, Muster entertained and genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Sometimes it's just a situation like this when you talk to the crowd and you talk to the people," he said. "Last year, it just happened. It's something you can not plan or force."
Muster begins play today in the ATP Championship against No. 11-ranked Tim Henman (11 a.m., Center Court). The two met last year in the first round of the U.S. Open, with Henman winning in four sets.
"That's the way it is if you're not seeded in the top eight, that's what you have to expect," Muster said of his tough assignment. "In a Super 9 event, there are no easy draws anyway."
He was ranked No. 9 at the end of the 1997 season but has dropped to 24th. He was as low as No. 30 in April. The left-handed Austrian has not finished a year out of the top 10 since 1994 when he was 16th.
Muster, who turns 31 in October and has won more than $12 million in his career, has intentionally cut back on his schedule this year, playing in only 14 tournaments so far. This is his first hardcourt tournament since Indian Wells, Calif., in March.
He called his year "pretty average" and said that by now he usually has played in more than 20 events.
"It gives me more breaks, and I can do other things," Muster said.
He has advanced to just one tournament final -- in Portugal in April -- since last year's ATP Championship. Muster was in the semifinals here in 1996, losing to Andre Agassi.
"I always enjoy coming back here," he said. "It obviously shows I'm playing well here most of the time, but it's a different year, a different situation, so we'll see. You can't compare one year with another."
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