VIENNA(AP) Former top-ranked Thomas Muster is making his return to the ATP Tour at the Bank Austria Trophy 26 years after he first played at the event.
Muster will play fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer on Tuesday in his first match on the tour since losing in the first round of 1999 French Open.
The 43-year-old Muster was handed a wild card and was scheduled to play fifth-seeded Ernests Gulbis, but organizers said Monday that the 24th-ranked Latvian had withdrawn for ``personal reasons'' and will be replaced by Haider-Maurer.
For me, every opponent would have been a huge challenge,'' Muster said before being told of Gulbis' withdrawal.I have one advantage - I won't freeze when I enter the Stadthalle. It's a usual feeling to me.''
Muster has reached the Vienna final three times, but has never won the tournament.
The 157th-ranked Haider-Maurer pulled out of qualification with a thigh injury earlier Monday, but expected to be ready for Tuesday's match.
``On paper, Thomas Muster is one of the easiest draws in the first round, but with his experience and the spectators getting behind him, he will play his best tennis,'' the 23-year old Haider-Maurer said.
Muster won 44 titles, including the French Open in 1995, to become Austria's most successful tennis player and held the No. 1 spot for six weeks in 1996.
By then, Muster had already staged a remarkable comeback to professional tennis.
His career was almost ruined when he severely injured his left knee after his car was hit by a drunken driver before the final of the 1989 Key Biscayne tournament. He was back on tour less than six months later.
Muster never formally retired from professional tennis, but said in 1999 he would ``go on a holiday.''
Muster has since been playing on the Champions Tour and suddenly announced his comeback to competitive tennis in June.
``(I'm) getting better every day, feeling the ball well, playing great shots, that still gives me a kick,'' said Muster, who managed just one win in seven matches on the second-tier Challenger circuit this season.
``I won't set my goals too high, but will just play my best tennis and we'll see where it brings me,'' he said.
Muster, who earned more than $12.2 million in career prize money, said he aims to play as many as 25 tournaments in 2011. He said he has been working hard on coordination and physical fitness, but admitted he is lacking match practice.
It's like completing a puzzle,'' Muster said.There still are several pieces which have to fit in.''