San Diego Section Tennis Championship : Carl Chang Tops Younger Brother to Capture Section Singles Title

On Tuesday, tennis-playing brothers Carl and Michael Chang of San Dieguito High School had a little fun. They stood across the net, about 20 feet apart, hitting the ball at one another as hard as they could.

This was just practice.

On Friday, they had a little more fun. They stood on opposite ends of the court, testing their backhands, forehands, serves and whatever else they pleased.

This was just the San Diego Section singles tennis championship.

Carl, a senior, beat defending champion Michael, a freshman, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club to win his first section championship.

In the doubles championship, Ian Skidmore and Mike Brown of Vista defeated Mark Ellison and Chris Swortwood of Torrey Pines, 6-3, 6-3.

“I thought I was having fun out there,” said Carl, who will attend California next year on a tennis scholarship. “I was really relaxed. There’s not much pressure when we play each other.”

Said Michael: “It had its serious points and it had its humorous points. I was playing all out, but I was still having fun.”

The match ended on a very serious rally. After three cross-court backhands by each player, Michael countered with a strong forehand that barely cleared the net. Carl rushed the net and amazingly scraped the ball off the ground and dropped it over to win the match.

“The odds of making that shot were one in two million,” Carl said with a laugh.

The brothers appeared to be at ease throughout the match, often joking with each other. Carl said that if he had been playing someone other than his brother, he “would have tried to kill the guy.”

“I think we both let up at certain points during the match,” Carl said.

In the third set, with Carl leading, 5-4, Michael scored three aces on powerful serves. Carl shook his head each time the ball skipped past him, asking the third time: “Tell me the truth, was that an illusion?”

“That’s the first time I’ve done that in my life,” Michael said of the three consecutive aces. “Sometimes you get lucky.”

Carl opened the next game with a serve that breezed past Michael, who jokingly called the ball out.

“I knew he was going to go for the big serve,” Michael said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be an ace, though.”

In the first set, neither player had more than a one-game advantage, until Carl won the final two games. They played to deuce 21 times during the first set.

But after winning the first game of the second set, Carl eased back from his normally aggressive style. Michael took advantage, winning the next six games.

“He started to counter-punch a little better in the second set,” Carl said. “When I saw how well he was playing, I decided to save myself for the final set.”

The third set was much the same as the first. Neither player gained more than a one-game lead until Carl won the final two games. Carl swept in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead.

Michael beat Carl last year, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), to become the first eighth-grader to win the section championship. He was enrolled in an algebra class at San Dieguito, which made him eligible for the high school team.

Tennis Notes

The Chang family will move to Orange County in July. Joe Chang, the boys’ father, said after the match Friday that it is doubtful that Michael Chang will attend high school in Orange County. Instead, Michael will probably train full time with a professional coach, taking independent studies. “San Diego players aren’t as tough as international competition,” said Michael, who plans to compete in several professional tournaments this summer and next year. “San Diego has not had a tough player in a long time.” When asked if he is a tough player, Michael said: “I think I can be, but I play really stupidly, too.”