By Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Staff
At the tender age of 17, American Michael Chang did the
unthinkable.
On the way to the finals of one of tennis’ four Grand
Slams ““ the French Open ““ the 5-foot-9, 160-pound
teenager not only defeated every person in his draw, he obliterated
them.
After captivating victories over Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg,
Chang became the youngest French Open and Grand Slam champion in
ATP history and finished 1989 ranked fifth in the world.
That’s a lot to live up to for someone who was not even old
enough to purchase a lottery ticket.
But Chang’s intense work ethic and high enthusiasm for the
game guaranteed that he would be a force to be reckoned with for
many years to come.
“Michael is one of the toughest fighters on the
court,” his brother and personal coach Carl Chang said at
last year’s Mercedes-Benz Cup. “It was no surprise to
see how good Michael became.”
In seven of the next ten years Chang finished in the top eight
of the worldwide year-end rankings, placing as high as second in
1996. Chang was flying high over the tennis landscape, reaching the
finals of the 1995 French Open and 1996 U.S. and Australian Opens.
In 1996 he also won the Los Angeles Open at the LATC. The
diminutive Chang has won 33 career titles and earned more than $18
million since he turned professional in 1988.
But as quickly as those glory days appeared for Chang, they just
as quickly seemed to fade away.
From his peak in 1996, Chang steadily lost ground in the
rankings, plummeting down to 50th by the end of 1999. Injuries
especially plagued the southern Californian, who relied on his
quickness and effort to defeat opponents often much bigger and
stronger than him.
“Well, I think it’s been a combination of things,”
Chang said of his struggles. “I think injuries played a
little bit of a part. I think just trying to get back into the
swing of things.”
“But tennis hasn’t quite been where it has been in the
past. It’s taken me some time to make that progress and get back to
where I was.”
It became so bad for Chang that he contemplated cutting down his
schedule and possibly retiring from the tour altogether.
“To be honest with you, there were times when I was very,
very frustrated, times where it did cross my mind,” Chang
said of retirement.
He said that it was mostly his perspective and attitude that
needed to change.
“I think part of it is maybe not putting so much pressure
on myself in certain ways,” he said. “I think one of
the tough things is that I’m a perfectionist. When I’m used to
being at a certain level or certain ranking, when I’m not able to
maintain that or be in that position, I always feel like there’s
something wrong, something I’m doing that’s not quite right. I feel
now like my perspective has changed.”
“And once I started to really think about things, I came
to my senses and realized that this is something that I still love
very much.”
With a revitalized passion for the game, Chang has his eyes set
on reclaiming his perch atop the tennis world. Chang, 28, is now
ranked 32nd in the world and is the fourth American overall behind
Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and newcomer Jan-Michael Gambill in the
latest rankings.
“I don’t feel like I’m quite there yet,” Chang said
of returning to his old form. “But I’m having fun trying to
get back there.”
He opened the year on a strong note in Auckland, New Zealand,
when he advanced to the finals to play against the current No. 1
player in the world, Magnus Norman. Chang lost the match 6-3, 3-6,
5-7 but gained confidence from the positive showing.
“I got off to a good start this year,” said Chang,
who has posted a 23-15 record in 2000. “The last couple of
years have been kind of a learning thing, so I’ve tried to
learn from it and tried to become a better player. I’m trying
to take things match by match, and every match I get under my belt
is going to help me more and more. I feel like things are getting
better little by little.”
But Chang was unable to keep his quality performances on a
consistent level. He lost in the first round of the Australian Open
in straight sets to little-known Roger Federer.
After only advancing past the quarterfinals of one tournament
before the French Open, Chang succumbed to Brazilian Gustavo
Kuerten in the Round of 32 in Paris.
And only three weeks ago, he also dropped a heartbreaker to
German Alexander Popp in the second round of Wimbledon, falling
short in the decisive fifth set 8-6.
“Whenever you try to work your way back, it’s never
one huge jump – it’s going to take some time,” Chang
said.
“For me, I don’t expect to get back to the top just
like that. It’s going to be a lot of little steps. It’s
going to be gradual, and I’ve got to be patient and put the
time in and the effort to succeed.”
And Chang hopes that the Mercedes-Benz Cup will serve as another
step up in his ascent back to the top of the world charts.