Chang Gets It Right This Time

Perseverance took stadium court at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Sunday and won the Infiniti Open.

Michael Chang, winless in three previous appearances in the tournament’s final, defeated Richard Krajicek, 6-4, 6-3, to win $43,000.

On match point, Chang doggedly tracked down a lob to the baseline then raced back to the net to retrieve Krajicek’s well-placed drop volley. Improbably, Chang got to the ball and whipped a passing shot by a stunned Krajicek.

After winning, Chang pointed to the stands to “the team”, which includes his parents, Betty and Joe, and his brother and coach, Carl.

“Whenever you are able to [win] in any part of the world, it is a great feeling, but especially here in Los Angeles,” he said. “It was great to do it in front of so many familiar faces.”

Chang has a long affinity for the tournament, mostly because he grew up in nearby Placentia. He has played in the tournament eight times, beginning in 1987, when he was 15.

In previous tournament finals, Chang lost to Aaron Krickstein in 1989, to Stefan Edberg in 1990 and to Krajicek in 1993.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘How many times can I possibly lose in a final?’ ” he said.

He could have asked Edberg, who lost in three L.A. finals in 1985, ’86 and ’87 before winning in 1990. Ironically, Chang defeated the sixth-seeded Edberg in the semifinals on Friday.

Chang and Krajicek became the first two top seeds to reach the tournament’s final in 20 years. Chang, currently ranked No. 3, was top-seeded and Krajicek, who won Wimbledon last month and is ranked No. 8, was seeded second.

By all appearances, Chang, 5 foot 9, was at a considerable disadvantage against 6-5 Krajicek, who shoots down players with his big serve. What’s more, Krajicek has been very successful in this tournament--he was trying to become the first player to win three L.A. titles since Jimmy Connors won four in 1973, ‘74, ’82 and ’84.

But Krajicek started badly--double faulting on his first serve and getting broken in the first game.

“My serve was off and he was punishing my second serve,” Krajicek said. “I was a little bit caught on my heels today.”

With Chang up two breaks, 5-2, in the first set, Krajicek broke back to make it 5-3 then held serve to make it 5-4.

Then, using a new and improved serve, Chang sent an ace past Krajicek to win the set. Chang broke Krajicek to take a 4-3 lead in the second set then gave up only four more points in winning the match.

Krajicek did not play well all week--he was pushed to three sets in his first three matches--and he looked lethargic in the final. Nonetheless, he said he was pleased to win four matches even though he wasn’t hitting well this week and noted that his poor performance did not result from pressure after winning Wimbledon.

“It’s a relaxing feeling, somehow [winning a Grand Slam]. Now, I’ve won one and there’s some pressure off my career now, in a way,” he said. “Why worry? Just enjoy it. I’m the champ.”

It was Chang’s third tour victory of the season, including a title at Indian Wells. He also advanced to the final of the Australian Open.

In the doubles final, Marius Barnard and Piet Norval defeated Jonas Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti, 7-5, 6-2.

A crowd of 7,211 watched the final to bring total tournament attendance to 73,691 for the week, 6,416 less than last year. The stands around stadium court were reconfigured this year to make room for sky boxes, and its current seating capacity, 7,200, is about 800 seats less than last year. Given the new arrangements, the tournament sold about 73% of its seats for the week.