Thomas Muster commented on the development of Austrian tennis at the ATP-500 tournament in Vienna’s Stadthalle. He demands more money from sponsorships, because even his pet would be better off than some athletes.
“Sometimes I think my dog has a better life than some who have to train in the Südstadt,”said Muster at a press conference in Vienna. He was surprised that the tennis association in Austria received so little money from the public sector.
“What Austria has produced in tennis over the last 20 years is not insignificant for this world sport,”says Muster, highlighting above all the achievements of Jürgen Melzer and Dominic Thiem. He sees above all the next Sports Minister as having a duty to support tennis more effectively.
Muster was satisfied with the development of Austria’s biggest tennis tournament:”The tournament has arrived where it belongs,”said the 1995 French Open winner, who has been supporting Herwig Straka in the organisation for years,”I believe that a city like Vienna needs this, and I say that as a tennis fan,”he added.
The Stadthalle itself is partly obsolete as a venue, but Muster and Straka are tied by hand:”It wouldn’t be so bad to renovate it, you could bring it up to modern standards, but that’s not our story, because we are just tenants”.
“I would be nothing to the politicians because I would survive exactly two days,” said the former world number one. But there are many political issues, however, if you intervene where it hurts. Hopefully the new government will show us.”