Chang Mixes His Shots Well and Advances; Forget Is Upset

Michael Chang, off to his best professional start, said Wednesday that his game is starting to “feel better.” It felt fine Wednesday in the French Open, where Chang advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands.

While the fifth-seeded Chang moved along, sixth-seeded Guy Forget of France was swept, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, by Bart Wuyts of Belgium. Forget, who barely escaped a first-round match against Brazil’s Luiz Mattar, made his earliest exit in the French Open since 1987.

In what was expected to be one of the feature matches of the day, play was suspended on center court with Jim Courier leading Thomas Muster, 1-0.

In women’s play, second-seeded Steffi Graf, fourth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and sixth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez easily advanced to the third round.

Chang, seeded fifth, attributed his improvement to a new style, his response to the power hitters who dominate today’s game.

“The courts and everything else are becoming so fast,” he said. “The guys are too big. They are hitting the ball too hard. They cover the net too well, and you have to mix it up, and play more of an unpredictable game to try to keep things unbalanced.”

Haarhuis is one of those big hitters, but he was unable to produce Wednesday.

Forget, France’s big hope here, never had a chance against Wuyts, ranked No. 97. When French reporters asked Forget if he had choked with so much local pressure on him, he said it was simply a case of not finding his rhythm.

“I could have played better, that’s for sure,” he said in French. “It has been a long time since I’ve had a match like that.”

In off-court action Wednesday, Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia and Derrick Rostagno of Pacific Palisades were reprimanded in the wake of an incident Tuesday. Novacek had lunged at Rostagno when they approached the net for the traditional handshake. According to Novacek, Rostagno, who won Tuesday’s match, criticized Novacek’s court demeanor at the net, provoking the attack.