Michael Chang

At 52 years old, Michael Chang has this physical status:

Tennis career

Chang first caught the tennis world's attention as a stellar junior player with a string of "newest-ever" records. At the age of 12, he captured his first national title, the USTA Junior Hard Court singles, for his first national title. He won the Fiesta Bowl 16s at the age of 13. Chang won the USTA Boys 18s Nationals and the Boys 18s Nationals, making him the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open two years later when he defeated Paul McNamee in four sets in the first round. He reached the semifinals at Scottsdale, Arizona, a month later, becoming the youngest player to qualify for a top-level professional tournament's semifinals. In 1988, he captured his first top-level singles title in San Francisco, aged 16 years and 7 months.

Chang's youngest-ever record came in 1989 when he won the French Open for the first male player to win a Grand Slam title for the first time ever. He defeated Stefan Edberg in a five-set final, 6–6, 6–2. His victory in the fourth round of the Ivan Lendl is also remembered for his epic five-set match (see below). Chang was the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955 and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984. Chang was the youngest player to be ranked in the top 10 players in August 1989.

Chang met Edberg in the semifinals of the US Open in 1992, this time Edberg defeated him in a five-set match, 6–7, 5–6, 6–4. The 5-hour, 26-minute match is the longest in US Open history. After his 1989 French Open final victory to Boris Becker, the 1996 Australian Open final to Peter Sampras, Chang reached three more Grand Slam finals. He beat Michael Stich and then two-time champion Sergi Bruguera in the semifinals in straight sets, eventually losing to Muster in the 1995 French Open. Both the 1996 Australian and the United States have been published. He beat Andre Agassi in straight sets in the semifinals; a victory over Sampras would have put Chang the no. 81 on the no. 2. The world's best player. He was the odds-on favorite to win in the 1997 U.S. Open after Sampras was upset by Petr Korda; however, Chang defeated eventual champion Patrick Rafter in straight sets;

Chang was a vital member of the US team that won the Davis Cup in 1990. In the semifinals at Austria, his dramatic comeback from two-sets down against Horst Skoff, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3, led the US to its first Davis Cup final since 1984. As the United States defeated Australia in the final, Chang defeated Darren Cahill in straight sets. He was also on the US team that won the World Cup in 1993. He won the final to Boris Becker in 1995, his highest result in the year-end singles championship came in 1995, when he defeated Muster, Jim Courier, and then dominated Pete Sampras in the semifinals.

Chang appeared in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, earning the second round before being eliminated by Jaime Oncins. Despite the fact that the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in Atlanta and that he would have been the tournament's number one seed (andre Agassi won the singles' gold medal). Chang was born in Sydney, where he was disqualified in the first round by Sébastien Lareau.

Chang was introduced to tennis by his father, Joe, who was his first coach. José Higueras coached him during his rise to 1989 (including his French Open title) in a tournament. He was coached by his older brother Carl Chang, who also participated in many doubles tournaments with him in the early 1990s. At the 2000 Australian Open, he was the first player to be defeated by Roger Federer in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. In the second round of the French Open in 2001, he was also the second player to be defeated by Andy Roddick in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

In 2003, Chang left the corporate tour for the third time. He won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles in his career. In 2000 at Los Angeles, his final top-level title was won. His total prize-money earnings were $19,145,632. His career-best singles ranking was world no. 1. Following his US Open finals appearance, he went 2 in 1996. In the 1990s (1992–1997), he was a top-ten player for six years, an achievement that was unmatched in the decade but only by Pete Sampras. He is one of a handful of players to win ATP titles in three different decades. His three Indian Wells Masters titles stood for 15 years before being eclipsed by Roger Federer in 2012.

Chang has participated in Jim Courier's senior tour, which began in Naples, Florida, since retiring from top-level football.

In 2014, Chang became Kei Nishikori's coach.

Chang's most memorable match was held at the 1989 French Open, helping him win his first Grand Slam singles title. In the fourth round, Chang defeated Eduardo Masso, Pete Sampras, and Francisco Roig, defeating just one set. Chang was crowned World No. 1 in Beijing. Ivan Lendl, the reigning Australian Open champion and three-time French Open champion, is the current Australian Open champion and three-time French Open champion.

In 1988, Chang was easily defeated by Lendl in an exhibition match held in Des Moines, Iowa. Lendl told Chang, "You have no service first." You've obviously had no second serving. You can't hurt me. You can run, but you should have a weapon to get out here," Chang was referring to as "you can run, but you must have a plan to get out here."

Lendl appeared to be on the way to victory after winning the first two sets 6–4, 6–4, and then breaking Chang's service in his first service match of the third set. However, Chang came back quickly and claimed the third set, 6–3. Chang suffered with leg cramps in the fourth set and thought he had won the match, but he considered dropping out of the match when the fifth set came up 2–1. He later said he had "an incredible conviction in my heart" not to give up and instead went straight forward and finished the game.

During shifts, Chang paced the sidelines, fearing he'd never be able to get up if he sat down, ate bananas and drank water at every opportunity. He also tried out some unusual methods to get rid of his cramps, including hitting the ball high into the air on several points to slow the game down (known as "moon balls") and then going for more champions in order to shorten the points. Lendl, who is one of the more fazed players, lost his rhythm and screamed at the umpire and the audience after losing a crucial point in the fifth set when Chang stunned him by serving an under-arm guard.

Chang continued to suffer from cramps, but in the fifth set, he took the lead with two match points on Lendl's serve. While waiting for Lendl's second serving, aiming to shake Lendl's concentration one more time. The crowd started yelling over the bizarre situation, and Lendl seemed to think everybody was mocking him. The tactic worked, as Lendl executed a double-fault to give Chang the win, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3, 4 minutes. At the end of the game, Chang sank to his knees and burst in tears.

"At times a lesser player could beat me and not back it up," Lendl remarked on his loss to Chang. At the time, you'd have to say he was a lesser player, but Michael backed it up."

Chang then defeated Ronald Agénor in the quarter-finals and Andrei Chesnokov in the semi-finals. Chang won the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time in Grand Slam history, seven days after his match against Lendl. Chang's match against Lendl took place on June 5, 1989, just one day after the Tiananmen Square Massacre took place. When recalling his French Open win, Chang has often discussed the consequences of the tragedy:

In a 4-hour, 42-minute semi-final match at the Grand Slam Cup on December 14, 1991, Chang defeated Lendl in near-duplicate fashion, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6, 9–7.

Source

Awards and recognition

• Chang won the ATP Newcomer of the Year award in 1988.