Chang, 17, Ousts Lendl in Stunner : Crowd Cheers Wildly as American Fights Off Painful Cramps

Michael Chang, writhing with leg cramps and hardly able to serve, staged a sensational rally to upset top-seeded Ivan Lendl 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 today and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open tennis championships.

In a match of high drama and excitement, the 17-year-old from Placentia brought off an improbable victory on Center Court that had the capacity crowd of 14,000 wildly supporting the underdog.

After playing the whole of the fifth set in pain, Chang fell on his back in relief after Lendl double-faulted on match point to end the 4-hour, 38-minute contest.

The American, the youngest-ever quarterfinalist in the men’s event, was in tears as he left the court.

While Chang’s comeback was the focus of attention, countryman Jim Courier lost a two-set lead and went out of the tournament as the second week began.

The unseeded Courier was beaten 2-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 by Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union. Courier, 18, had upset No. 5 seed Andre Agassi on Sunday.

Wilander Moves Ahead

With tension all around him, defending champion Mats Wilander of Sweden eased into the quarterfinals. Wilander, yet to drop a set in the tournament, hammered Lawson Duncan of Asheville, N.C., 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

If the quality of the Chang-Lendl match was patchy, the emotion of the occasion was super-charged.

Lendl was warned in the first set and penalized a point in the fourth, both times for arguing over line calls. Chang also was warned, for taking too much time in the fifth game of the final set, when he was in the most pain.

“I was surprised I was able to hang on so long,” Chang said. “When he gave me the warning, both my thighs were cramping. If I put any pressure on any of my muscles, I’d cramp. I just tried to win as many points as I could. When I had a chance, I went for it.”

After being outhit by Lendl for two long sets of marathon rallies, Chang got back into the match by trying to finish off the points quicker and going for the lines.

Lendl’s concentration was badly shaken, but as Chang was suddenly hit by dehydration and cramps, there seemed only one winner. Chang, whose mother was watching from the stands, sometimes screamed in pain as he chased Lendl’s deep ground strokes in the fifth set.

Every opportunity he got, the tournament’s No. 15 seed drank from a court-side water bottle and declined to sit down during the changeovers to keep his legs from collapsing.

To stay in the points, Chang slowed the game down with high looping balls, in contrast with his tactics in the third and fourth sets. Whenever he found the strength, he continued to smash home winners.

The American’s serve suffered the most. Tightened with cramps, he gave Lendl short, soft balls to return and, in his last service game, Chang even served one point underhanded.

It took Lendl so much by surprise that the 29-year-old Czechoslovakian ended a point when he hit a volley wide.

Lendl’s concentration was shattered by then and Chang, saving his energy for his opponent’s service games, broke the top seed for a fourth straight time.

When Lendl served to save the match at 3-5, 15-40, Chang moved to within two feet of the service line to receive a second serve by Lendl.

The result was a double fault, the first time since 1982 that Lendl had exited so early at Stade Roland Garros. It also ended his hopes of winning the Grand Slam after his victory at the Australian Open in January.

“After the third set, I wasn’t moving well,” Chang said. “I tried to do whatever I could to win. If I were to play all long rallies with Ivan, I would have lost. Whenever I had a chance, I reached for it.”

Attempts to Rattle Lendl

Commenting on the last point, Chang said it was just a way of trying to rattle Lendl.

“When I do that, it’s just to make him think. I just stood up there to bother his concentration,” Chang said.

He said he understands how tough it must have been for Lendl to keep his control and concentration.

“It’s really hard mentally to play against someone you know is tired and cramping,” Chang said. “You don’t want to miss. You play conservatively, you don’t play your game.”

Lendl said that by the time he knew Chang was hurt, he could not find the power to finish off his opponent.

“I had trouble generating pace,” Lendl said. “When your opponent cramps reasonably early, you can put pace on the ball. When it happens later, it’s very difficult. The ball was not coming off my racket and it probably cost me the match.”

He was gracious in defeat.

“Michael showed a lot of courage and deserves credit for it. When you get cramps, it’s very painful,” Lendl said.

Lendl, a three-time French Open champion, had won six tournaments this year coming into Paris and had lost only two Grand Prix matches in one of his best seasons for several years.

With his hopes of a fourth French crown in tatters, he now has to concentrate his thoughts on Wimbledon, where he has never won the men’s title.