THE SIDELINES : Chang Out of Manchester Open

Michael Chang of Placentia lost two tiebreakers and with them his second-round match, bowing to Mark Kratzman of Australia 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) at the Manchester Open grass court tournament today.

Chang, last year’s French Open champion, was the third seed.

Pete Sampras, the No. 2 seed, beat fellow Amrican Joey Rive 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Chang did not seem unhappy at losing today during a rain-affected week. He wanted to travel the 200 miles south to London on Saturday anyway to complete his training for Wimbledon.

“Hopefully, in the next few days I can work well before Wimbledon because I’ll now go down to London where the grass is that little bit harder,” he said.

Chang saved seven match points before Kratzman, better known for his doubles play, finally served the winner.