Chang Is All Set for the Semifinals

Michael Chang, continuing his push back to prominence, Friday advanced to the semifinals for the third time in the last four tournaments, beating Wayne Ferreira, 6-3, 7-6 (7), in the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA.

The resurgence for the 1989 French Open champion and second-ranked player in the world in ’96 comes a year after he finished 50th in the points race, failed to reach a final for the first time since turning professional in 1988 and briefly dropped down to Challenger competition. He reached the semifinals in grass tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands in consecutive weeks in June, then lost in the second round at Wimbledon, but in Los Angeles has yet to lose a set.

At least South Africa’s Ferreira challenged once. In previous tries, Paul Kilderry went down, 6-4, 6-2, and Kevin Ullyett fell, 6-1, 6-3, practically making Friday’s developments a major threat: Ferreira not only pushed him to a tiebreaker, but also in the tiebreaker.

Chang, who began the week No. 34 in the ATP points race, trailed as late as 7-6 in the tiebreaker, after being aced by Ferreira. But the former Placentia and Coto de Caza resident, who now lives in Mercer Island, Wash., answered with an ace of his own to tie, then won the final two points to close out the match.

He’s in a semifinal for the fifth time in 2000, against Justin Gimelstob.

He’s the highest-seeded player remaining at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, at No. 4.

He’s back?

“Well, I never really tried to go anywhere,” said Chang, the 1996 champion of the tournament. “I just had some struggles and some difficulties. I think we all go through that.”

Only not with an entire sport watching.

“The game has changed since back then,” he said, referring to his former life. “I’d like to think it’s getting [back] there.”

Chang wasn’t the only relatively easy winner Friday, a round after eighth-seeded Arnaud Clement, Gimelstob and Ferreira all needed three sets to advance, Gimelstob with two tiebreakers and a two-hour 15-minute come-from-behind victory over second-seeded Mark Philippoussis. In fact, Chang wasn’t even close to the easiest winner.

Gimelstob, beginning his afternoon match 15 hours after upsetting Philippoussis, needed only 11 minutes to advance. That’s how long it took--three games, all in favor of Gimelstob--before continued problems with tendinitis in the left foot forced Paul Goldstein to withdraw.

Goldstein thought the injury had been healing the night before, until aggravating it in the closing moments of the 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alex O’Brien. Had he known there was a good chance he would not have been sound enough to last against Gimelstob, Goldstein said, he would have pulled out late against O’Brien, even with the big lead, instead allowing a healthy O’Brien to play in the quarterfinals. In the end, though, Goldstein tried to go, got down, 3-0, and retired.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Gimelstob, who beat Stanford’s Goldstein on these courts while playing for UCLA. “We grew up together. There aren’t a lot of people I respect more than Paul Goldstein.”

Goldstein also withdrew from next week’s tournament in Toronto, in hopes of rehabilitating enough to return Aug. 7 in Cincinnati. The priority is to be healthy for the start of the U.S. Open on Aug. 28.

Gimelstob, meanwhile, will face Chang for the first time and is in his first semifinal since 1998, after previously reaching the quarterfinals this year at San Jose and Delray Beach, Fla.

Clement had only slightly more trouble with his quarterfinal opponent, rolling past fellow Frenchman Lionel Roux, 6-3, 6-2. Clement tonight faces sixth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill, a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Jason Stoltenberg, the only match of the day that wasn’t in straight sets.

Gambill is in a semifinal for the second time this year, in addition to last month in Nottingham, England, the final tuneup for what would become his quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon. He also made the semifinals in another Southern California tournament, at Indian Wells in 1998.

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Today’s Semifinals Matches

Today’s Mercedes-Benz Cup semifinal matches at the Los Angeles Tennis Center:

* 1 p.m. Michael Chang vs. Justin Gimelstob.

* 7:30 p.m.: Arnaud Clement vs. Jan-Michael Gambill.