Chang Upsets Connors in Tiebreaker at Chicago

Sixteen-year-old Michael Chang of Placentia outslugged second-seeded Jimmy Connors from the baseline and capitalized on numerous unforced errors Thursday to win their second-round match, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), at the $350,000 Volvo Chicago tennis tournament.

After losing his serve in the 11th game of the second set to go down 5-6, Chang broke back to force the tiebreaker.

Connors took the first two points, but Chang reeled off the next seven, ending the 2-hour 3-minute match on a call that even Chang thought was bad.

“The ball I hit I felt was long when it left my racket,” Chang said. “But it was called good. Sometimes in the heat of a match, people get nervous.”

Ranked 29th in the world and fresh from two Davis Cup victories against Paraguay, Chang pulled off his biggest upset, beating the world’s seventh-ranked player.

Earlier, top-seeded Ivan Lendl, No. 4 Tim Mayotte and No. 7 Kevin Curren posted straight-set victories.

Lendl defeated Johan Kriek, 6-4, 6-3; Mayotte downed Roger Smith of the Bahamas, 6-3, 7-5, and Curren eliminated Nicolas Periera of Venezuela, 6-4, 6-4.

Making his debut, third-seeded John McEnroe defeated Dan Goldie 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Chang ran Connors all over the University of Illinois Circle Pavilion Supreme Court surface.

At one point, Connors asked Chang, “Are you 16 or 17?” Another time, Connors yelled, “Remember, I’m an old man. I’m 36.”

With both players playing from the baseline, Connors took the first two games, breaking Chang’s service in the second. But the teen-ager broke Connors in the third and fifth games to take a 3-2 edge.

After Chang increased his lead to 5-3, he broke Connors again in the ninth game as the veteran hit three balls into the net.

In the second set, Connors scored the first service break in the seventh game to grab a 4-3 edge. After Connors held serve in the eighth game, Chang won the next two games, squaring the set at 5-5.

They then traded service breaks to force the tiebreaker.

Chang said beating Connors “is an honor. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame someday. He played great and he made me work hard.”

In the tiebreaker, Chang said, “I think after going up 2-0, he felt he could gamble on my second serve and play some returns short. After all, he wasn’t serving.”