He’s a married man now and 20 years past one of the most remarkable runs in French Open history, but war-horse Michael Chang still recalls his glory days as a teenager, when he stunned the world to grab his sole Slam at the ’89 French Open.
“Under the situation, the French Open, with Tienanmen Square going on [in China], the way the last four matches were played, it is in many instances very memorable,” Chang said. “I’ve had so many people come up to me and say they were actually there watching it on Centre Court. That’s pretty remarkable.”
“It” was one of the most memorable matches of the century, when the 5-foot-8, 125-pound Chang overcame serious cramps, served underhanded and left the legendary Ivan Lendl in the dust 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in a four-hour, 39- minute gut-buster.
“There are 17,000 seats in that stadium, but so many people from around the world say they were there,” said Chang. “Either they’re lying or it’s a pretty incredible thing. I would think that people would say, ‘I saw the final against Edberg.’ But so many more people say, ‘I saw your Round of 16 match against Lendl,’ which is odd.”
What was all-together strange was watching an exhausted Chang serve underhanded, moonball, and then sprint sideline to sideline and blast winners. The Orange County resident, who is now married to former Stanford star and NCAA titlist Amber Liu, recalls some key moments: “The second to last point, when I hit the backhand down the line for a winner — going back to get a drink of water during the middle of one of the games because my cramps were stinging. I knew I wouldn’t be able to play the point. I remember lunging for a backhand, having a cramp in my right calf, kind of limping back, then Ivan missed a forehand; the match point. The underhand serve.”
Chang psyched Lendl out on his first match point, standing nearly on the service line to return serve. The shaky Czech double faulted.
“I was hoping maybe I would be able to maybe coax him into a double-fault,” Chang said.
The persuasions of the tireless baseliner continued in his next three matches. He had to save a set point in the fourth set in his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) victory over Ronald Agenor; rescue another set point in his four-hour 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 semi over Andrei Chesnokov; and come back from 2-0 down in the fifth to stave off Edberg 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 for the title. After 21 hours, 18 minutes of clay court heaven and hell, the youngest title winner in Paris history was crowned at 17 years, seven months. He became the first American to win RG since Tony Trabert in ’55.
“The French will always be a great memory for me,” Chang said.
