Tennis Roundup : Chang Moves Into Semifinals With Victory Over Giammalva

Michael Chang, 16, of Placentia, Calif, defeated Sammy Giammalva, 6-4, 6-0, Friday at Houston to advance to the semifinals of the $200,000 River Oaks International tennis tournament.

Chang led 4-1 early in the first set. Giammalva rallied to within 4-3 before Chang won two of the last three games--both on Giammalva’s serve.

“The first set was weird,” Chang said. “I was up 4-1, then lost two games and blamed it on my racket. A lot of the guys are talking about losing (string) tension because of humidity, but I ended going back to the racket I started with.”

Chang had little trouble in the second set as Giammalva continued to struggle with his serve, and was broken in his last five service games. Chang’s biggest challenge of the set came in the final game when he and Giammalva played to 11 deuces.