San Diego Section Tennis : Chang, 14, Beats Older Brother for Title

Michael Chang, an eighth-grader from Oakcrest Junior High School in Encinitas, still has to wait until the fall of 1987 to attend classes at San Dieguito High. But that hasn’t kept him from dazzling opponents on the tennis court as a representative of the high school.

Chang, 14, competing as a freshman, defeated his older brother, Carl, 17, a junior, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), Thursday in the San Diego Section tennis final to become the youngest player to win the section singles title. The previous youngest player was The Bishop’s School’s Frank Grannis, a sophomore, in 1982.

“It feels good to win a CIF tournament when you are in the eighth grade,” Michael said. “It feels good because you feel you have accomplished something. . . . You have done something no one else has done yet.”

In the doubles final, Vista’s Paul Richards and Ian Skidmore defeated Poway’s Chris Toomey and Gordon Shockley, 7-5, 6-1.

In the seven tournaments in which Michael and Carl have competed, Carl has lost the past two. Those were his only losses of the season. Michael was undefeated.

Remarkable speed and strategy decided the match, played at The Bishop’s School.

Early in the first game, it appeared that Carl would dominate after his fierce serves forced Michael into two errant shots before winning the next point on a streaking ace that left Michael bewildered. Michael soon adjusted to his brother’s fast serve, however.

“I just got used to it through the match because he didn’t change up, he just kept hitting the ball hard,” Michael said. He plays for San Dieguito because he is enrolled in a high school-level algebra class at Oakcrest.

“My serve was all right,” said Carl, who encouraged his brother to go out for the San Dieguito team. “But toward the end, he got into a groove. . . . I was nailing my ball right down the line, which should have been aces, but he was running them down.”

Both players agreed that Michael’s overall quickness made the difference. In the third game of the first set, Carl seemed in control, running Michael back and forth across the court. Michael eventually won the point after he charged the net and slammed the ball into the corner.

“That’s the type of player he is,” Carl said. “That’s why he beats so many players. He’s a scrambler and there’s not much you can do against that.”

Said Michael: “He was running me around a lot. But a lot of the time I stayed right with him. It was taking him two or three shots to put me away. I think my shots in the backcourt made him miss more and made him lose some confidence.”

In the third set, the match came down to the tiebreaker. Carl, who admittedly was tense throughout the match, took a 4-1 lead and appeared to relax somewhat. Michael countered with three straight points to tie the score at 4-4.

“When I was up, 4-1, in the tiebreaker,” Carl said, “I let up a little bit and he took advantage right there and closed the match out.”

Said Michael: “I thought I was going to lose the match after I was down, 4-1. . . . I got lucky in the tiebreaker because he was missing shots he usually doesn’t miss.”

Carl, who was the tournament’s top seed, advanced to the final after beating Mount Carmel’s Tom Phanco, 6-2, 7-6. In that match, Carl was boosted by his hard-driving play at the net. On Thursday, No. 2 seed Michael closed down his brother’s net game.

“Against Mike I would have preferred to come in a little more,” Carl said. “But playing at the net or at the baseline you can still get killed.”