Thomas Muster beat fatigue with plenty of sleep, and that enabled him to battle back from two sets down against Boris Becker and remain unbeaten this year on clay courts.
"I don't know how I won the match," Muster said after a 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 victory Sunday in the Monte Carlo Open. "After what happened yesterday I didn't think I could be able to play today."I would like to thank the medical service that got me ready to play."
Muster was barely able to finish his semifinal on Saturday due to dehyrdration and fatigue from lack of sleep and food. He went for tests and doctors gave him the okay to play the final after more than 10 hours of sleep.
Muster, unbeaten in 22 matches on clay this year in four tournaments, saved match point twice in the fourth set. The victory was his 20th in finals on clay since 1990, among them Monte Carlo in 1992.
The loss deprived Becker of a chance of his first pro clay court title after 43 tournament victories on faster surfaces. It was Becker's third losing Monte Carlo final.
Becker paved the way to his own destruction. In the fourth set tiebreaker at 6-4, he double-faulted on one match point and netted a forehand on the other, one of his 82 unforced errors. Muster had 24 in the 3-hour, 16-minute match.
Becker went for it on his second serve at match point, hitting the ball 121.8 mph.
"I was feeling confident. I was risking a lot on my second serve a lot all week," Becker said. "At that moment I had a gut feeling to risk it on my second serve."
He appeared to have the match in hand, then started making costly errors.
"I had all the chances in the world," Becker said. "But he didn't give up."
At Barcelona, Spain, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the second-ranked player in the world, enjoyed a homecourt edge and scored a rare double Sunday in the $430,000 Ford Open WTA tournament.
The Barcelona native defeated Iva Majoli of Croatia 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.
The 23-year-old Sanchez Vicario also won in doubles, teaming with Latvian Larisa Neiland to beat the top-seeded duo of Majoli and Mariaan De Swardt of South Africa 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
At Moscow, John McEnroe handed Jimmy Connors his first loss on the over-35 Champions Tour, beating him 6-1, 7-5 Sunday in the title match of the $150,000 Moscow Champions.
Playing his first event on the $2.5 million tour co-founded by Connors, McEnroe was in classic form, arguing with linesman and producing an array of excellent shots at Friendship Sports Arena.
"Anytime I play Jimmy, I get up," said McEnroe, 36. "It's great competition."