By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
Michael Chang rarely gets emotional in public.
But after the former No. 2 player in the world defeated
Jan-Michael Gambill to win the Mercedes-Benz Cup on Sunday in the
Los Angeles Tennis Center ““ his first title in more than two
years ““ tears welled up in his eyes.
“It’s been emotional for me. The last couple of
years have been tough,” said Chang, who last won in Shanghai
in 1998.
“In life you’re going to have some ups and
you’re going to have some downs,” he added. “When
I had my downs it was hard not to get discouraged. I think in life
when you are down, you got to get yourself back up.”
At the press conference, the 1989 French Open Champion was asked
when he last got that emotional after a match.
“I can’t really remember the last time I was that
emotional in public other than in the ’89 French,”
Chang said. “Obviously we’ve had times in private where
things have been pretty tough.”
He won the match when Gambill retired after they played the
first two sets 6-7(7-2), 6-3.
Not only did Chang win his first title in two years, he did it
in the city where he honed his game.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and family here,”
said Chang, who was born in New Jersey but grew up in Los Angeles.
“In a sense, I was playing in front of my hometown.
“To break through and win a title in Los Angeles is pretty
neat,” he added.
Chang’s long awaited trip back to the winner’s
circle wasn’t easy, as the 23-year-old Gambill gave him all
he could handle.
Backed by a powerful serve that reached as high as 127 mph,
Gambill took the match’s first set 7-6 by winning the
tie-breaker 7-2.
Because of injuries to both his left knee and right ankle,
Gambill was forced to retire after the second set.
Gambill, who played for the U.S. in last weekend’s Davis
Cup semifinals in Spain, came into the match with his left knee
sore due to the tremendous amount of tennis he has been playing
lately.
Three games into the second set, Gambill was noticeably favoring
his left leg.
Then when Gambill was one point away from breaking Chang and
making the score 5-4 in the second set, he suffered his second
injury as he sprained his right ankle.
The injury occurred after Gambill overhead smash the ball that
Chang eventually ran down and hit for a passing winner.
“On that overhead I just came down on my ankle
wrong,” said Gambill, who was told by trainers after the
match that he will not need an MRI.
“I heard it pop,” he added. “I’ve never
heard anything in my body pop before. I was like, “˜Oh God,
that doesn’t sound good at all.’ “
Not only did Gambill get hurt on that breakpoint, but if he had
won the point the complexion of the match would have changed.
“That was a huge point,” Chang said. “If I
lost that point who knows what could have happened after
that.”
After his second injury, Gambill asked for and received a
three-minute medical timeout.
With a raucous cheer from the crowd, Gambill decided to make a
go of it and see if he could somehow sneak a game away.
“I thought maybe if I could slime one of those points out
at 30-40 and make him a little nervous then I could hold serve
somehow,” Gambill said.
Gambill would not get a chance to serve again as the young
American wasn’t able to move freely because of his two
injuries.
He decided to call it quits after the second set.
“I thought I could get through it with the knee
injury,” Gambill said. “But after I hurt my ankle there
was no way I could play the third set.”
Chang, who won the Mercedes-Benz Cup in 1996, said a re-emphasis
on speed and quickness, as well as increased confidence, helped get
him back to the winner’s circle.
“I think my rise in my confidence has been gradual,”
Chang said. “It’s definitely not one of those things
that hit me and came over night.”
Chang took home $49,500 in prize money and will now be ranked
No. 22 in the world in the new ATP Tour rankings.