Projo Sports Blog

BY MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

NEWPORT - He was only 17 when he won the French Open in 1989, still the youngest male to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Just a kid, with his career yet to unfold, Michael Chang couldn't appreciate the magnitude of his accomplishment.
"When you're 17 years old and you're playing Grand Slam tournaments, you're not thinking if I win this, I'll be the youngest Grand Slam champion ever. I think when you're that young, you're really just kind of enjoying the time and still trying to get settled a little bit. I don't think it really sunk in until probably a couple of months after it took place," he said.

It sank in again Saturday when Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The marketing guru Mark McComack, founder if International Management Group, and the player, writer, publisher and promoter Eugene Scott, founder of Tennis Week magazine, were also inducted, each posthumously.

Chang never won another Grand Slam title during his 16-year career. He came close at Roland Garros in 1995, but lost to Thomas Muster in the final. And he came close in 1996 at the Australian Open, losing to Boris Becker in the final, and at the U.S. Open, where he fell to Pete Sampras in the championship match.

But he did win 34 tournaments on the ATP circuit, was a finalist in 24, was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in 1996 and helped the U.S. to the David Cup championship in 1990. Solid credentials, for sure, but not strong enough for residency in the Hall of Fame.

"The reason I'm here is because of that '89 French," he said.

Chang stunned the tennis world during that spring of political unrest in China, his ancestral homeland. (When he wasn't playing, he was watching the protests in Tiananmen Square unfold on CNN.) He had turned pro in 1988, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open and finished the year ranked No. 30. But no American man had won the French since Tony Trabert in 1955, and Chang wasn't the likely choice to break the streak in 1989, not having grown up on the hard courts of Southern California. But fellow American Jim Courier went out in the fourth round, the same round the Chang upset Ivan Lendl, the three-time French champion and No. 1 player in the world, in an epic five-set spectacle. Lendl won the first two sets and the first game of the third, but Chang broke back and then broke ahead and took the set.

Crippling leg cramps hit Chang in the fourth set, and he struggled to survive. He hit moon balls to defuse Lendl's power. He ate bannas and crank copious amounts of fluids to maintain his strength. He took an extended bathroom break. He won the set, 6-3.
The cramps became so painful in the fifth set that Chang cried out after points. Yet he refused to quit. At double match point, barely able to stand, he moved in to a point just beyond the service line to receive Lendl's serve. His concentration disrupted by the ploy, Lendl double faulted, and Chang, triumphant, tumbled to the clay in relief. He subsequently defeated Ronald Agenor in the quarterfinals, Andrei Chesnokov in the semifinals and Stefan Edberg in five sets in the final

"That match in so many ways defined his career," Chang's brother and coach, Carl, said in introducing the newest inductee to a crowd of about 3,000 in the stadium at the Newport Casino before the semifinals of the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

Another highlight was his victory over Horst Skoff of Austria in the 1990 Davis Cup semifinals in Vienna. The U.S. had a 2-1 lead after the doubles with Andre Agassi leading off Day Three. Chang thought he wouldn't play or his match would be meaningless. But Muster beat Agassi, and Chang had to play to win. Skoff took the first two sets and Chang the third before the match was suspended because of darkness. He called his brother at Cal-Berkeley seeking advice, and they spoke again the following morning after Carl had had a chance to watch the delayed telecast. Chang adjusted and pulled out the last two sets, sending the U.S. to the final. The Americans defeated Australia for the Davis Cup championship.

Mental toughness and unwavering determination were hallmarks of Chang's game. So were dedication, perseverance, hard work, sacrifice, faith and unity, he said, attributes his family possesses in abundance. During his acceptance remarks, he thanked his parents Betty and Joe and his brother "for loving me and giving me every opportunity to excel." They never pressured him, he said, and were always there whether he won or lost or had a bad day.

"For us, tennis was never about winning and losing," he said, mentioning that his mother once told him that if he played his hardest and tried his best, he could always walk off the court with his head high.

"You are and always will be in my hall of fame right here in my heart," Chang told his family.

Chang, 36, spends much of his time working for the Chang Family Foundation and its Christian ministry and giving motivational speeches. He also coaches some and hopes to return to playing on Courier's senior tour later this year. He ruptured his Achilles tendon on that tour 2 1/2 years ago and was sidelined for 15 months. He is scheduled to play an exhibition Sunday morning at the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Famer John McEnroe spoke fondly of Scott, a "tennis renegade" and mentor to him. Scott's wife Polly said her husband "cared passionately about tennis for more than 40 years" and was loyal and devoted to his family and friends as well. A multi-sport varsity athlete at Yale, he was ranked No. 11 in the world in tennis in 1965 and even played doubles with McEnroe in the Wimbledon qualifier in 1977. He died in 2006 at the age of 68.

McCormack was a pioneer in sports marketing, and his company eventually became the leading agency representing athletes and the leading producer of television sports programming. Monica Seles, the former world No. 1, described him as "so far ahead of his time." She remembered him not only has a great businessman but as a husband, father and loyal friend.

McCormack's wife, the former pro Betsy Nagelson, said that few people were more passionate about tennis than her husband and described tennis festivals they held at their Orlando home every Christmas. They welcomed world-class players and hackers alike, and there were only three rules: McCormack's opponent got only one serve, had to hit the ball within his reach and could not lob.

McCormack died five years ago. He was 72.

mszostak@projo.com / (401) 277-7340

 Tags  Eugene Scott Mark McCormack Michael Chang Newport Tennis

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