Horst SKOFF

After Thomas Muster, Horst Skoff was the best Austrian tennis player of the 1980s and 1990s. He won four ATP singles titles (Athina, Wien, Genève and Båstad), and two doubles titles. He achieved his top ranking in 1990, when he was placed 18th on the ATP list. He was close to leading the Austrian Davis Cup side to the final in 1990, but he lost the deciding single againt Michael Chang of the United States after taking a two set lead. One year earlier, another of his Davis Cup matches was also notable, as he needed 6 hours to defeat Mats Wilander of Sweden - a record for a Davis Cup match with tie-breaks. In 1997, Skoff was suspended for life by the ATP after allegedly switching urine samples. However, Skoff appealed the decision successfully, and the ATP paid him a settlement fee in 2008. Skoff, who was also known in Austria for a fling with former Miss World Ulla Weigerstorfer, set up his own tennis academy in Klagenfurt. In June 2008, he was found unconscious in the German city of Hamburg, and died later of cardiac arrest.