Muster powers his way to final

Tennis

JOHN ROBERTS

reports from Paris

The final of the French Open men's singles championship tomorrow will be contested by Michael Chang, the diminutive American who would not flinch if sand were kicked in his face, and Thomas Muster, the grunting, pulverising Austrian who makes his compatriot Arnold Schwarzen-egger seem like a sissy.

Chang, the sixth seed, ended a weary Sergi Bruguera's quest for a third consecutive French title, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6, to advance to his first Grand Slam final since becoming the youngest champion here in 1989, aged 17 and three months. Muster became the first Austrian to reach the final of one of the four major championships, demoralising Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.

At the moment of Chang's triumph against Stefan Edberg six years ago, Muster was commentating in a television booth at Stade Roland Garros. He was on crutches, recovering from a career-threatening knee injury caused by a drunk-driver in Miami three months earlier.

The following year, Muster advanced to the semi-finals, losing in straight sets to Andres Gomez of Ecuador, who went on to defeat Andre Agassi in the final. Since then, the 27-year-old Austrian left-hander has has been an acknowledged master of clay courts everywhere - except Paris.

He is unbeaten on the surface for 34 consecutive matches since losing to Emilio Sanchez in the second round of the Palermo tournament last October, and his 29 successive victories this year equals Pete Sampras' winning sequence in 1994. Should the fifth-seeded Muster win the final, he will equal Jimmy Connors' 30-match winning streak in 1978 (Bjorn Borg holds the record for the Open era with 49).

Kafelnikov described playing Muster as "like facing something from the Rocky IV movie", and said he felt "like a small moth against a big elephant". Having tried everything to stem the flow of points against him, including "practising for Wimbledon" by adopting serve and volley in the third set, Kafelnikov despaired.

"Thomas is like a wall," he said. "He's the greatest on the clay these days. He's unbeatable, and that's what everybody thinks when they have to play against him."

Muster, jubilant on the Centre Court after Kafelnikov overhit a forehand on the final point, tried to underplay his emotions when discussing tomorrow's match. "To say I'm unbeatable in Paris is ridiculous," he said, "and what's more, it can be proved." He continued the light-hearted approach, saying: "In the final I will consider myself one of the favourites," and added: "People are running out of the names of animals to call me."

Muster has won his three previous matches against Chang, the latest in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open little more than a week before Paris. There was a certain acrimony on that occasion. Muster, who gave Chang a point on a close call, later showed his displeasure when Chang persuaded the umpire that he had double-faulted.

Muster went on to defeat Bruguera in the final, adding the Italian title to those he had collected in Mexico, Estoril, Barcelona and Monte Carlo during the course of a splendid season. Whatever happens tomorrow, he is unlikely to play on the Wimbledon lawns, which he fears more than the skills of his opponents.

Chang may not be able to do much about his height (5ft 9in), but he has steadily increased the potency of his serve since adding an inch to the length of his racket handle early last year.

In common with Muster, he is the type who will scrap for every point for five sets if necessary, although it quickly became apparent yesterday that Bruguera was coming to the end of his 19-match unbeaten run, and that Borg's record as the only man to win the title for three consecutive years would remain intact.

It was not a match to fire the imagination, with Chang proving the smarter and livelier player whenever there was a chance that Bruguera would extend the contest. Errors dictated the outcome of the second set tie-break, and Chang won the concluding shoot-out 7-0, which summarised Brug-uera's level of resistence.

The Spaniard bemoaned the fact that a knee injury in February had disrupted his preparation. "My legs didn't work well enough," he said.

Results, Sporting Digest,

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