Chang Finally Gets a Leg Up

There were wounds to his body and blows to his psyche.

In what was nearly two years between tournament victories No. 33 and 34, Michael Chang’s powers of positive thinking were severely tested. Which is why when he was the last one standing Sunday, it was almost enough to make him break down in tears at the L.A. Tennis Center.

Chang was wavering emotionally. His opponent, Jan-Michael Gambill was wavering physically, seemingly body part by body part failing him.

What was going on?

Well, the curse of the Mercedes-Benz Cup had to last one more day. The injury-riddled tournament seized one final victim, the sixth-seeded Gambill, prematurely ending the men’s final and canceling the doubles final as well.

Gambill called it a day after winning the first set, 7-6 (2) and losing the second, 3-6. While favoring an injured left knee, he went up in the air for an overhead and landed on his right ankle, rolling over on it in the ninth game of the second set.

The tour trainer dashed out on the court and Gambill took an injury timeout. Bravely, he kept playing, hitting outright winners and limping.

It was painful to watch, especially considering what Gambill has gone through lately. A week ago, he was grinding it out in Santander, Spain, on clay in a meaningless reverse singles match in a Davis Cup semifinal loss to the Spaniards.

“I’m the guy who is going to give 200%, you never know what can happen,” said Gambill, who had 16 aces.

If anything, Pete Sampras has shown what can unfold if you keep on playing. But Chang, seeded fourth, was serving for the set, and Gambill’s ordeal lasted seven more points before Chang won it, 6-3.

“It was a little bit nerve-racking in that last game,” Chang said. “I knew he was going to go for shots.”

Finally, Gambill recognized the futility and shook hands with Chang, who, showing his usual class, had encouraging words of support for his opponent. In a television interview on the court, Chang’s voice started to break when he said, “It’s been a little bit emotional for me. The last couple of years have been tough.”

Chang had to think for a moment when he tried to remember the last time he had been so emotional.

“Generally speaking, in public, I’m usually pretty good,” he said.

He figured it would have been the ’89 French Open, which was his first and only Grand Slam singles title, won at age 17.

“There have been times in private where things have been pretty tough,” he said. “I think we all can relate to that. I actually could feel it [the emotions] a few minutes after Jan-Michael couldn’t play anymore.

“I had those few moments just to think and from there, I started to get a little emotional there. I just tried to think of other things that wouldn’t make me that way.”

His brother Carl, who has been his longtime coach, was calm. But he also was recalling the last couple of years in vivid terms. Chang, 28, had not won a tournament since October 1998 at Shanghai. His last appearance in a final before this event was in January when he lost to Magnus Norman in Auckland, New Zealand.

Carl said the lowest point was last year when his brother contemplated wrist surgery during the clay-court season before the French Open. They received various opinions and didn’t quite like what they were hearing and opted to skip the procedure.

Things got tougher when Chang dropped down to the challenger level in the summer and lost in the semifinals at Aptos, Calif., to Harel Levy of Israel. Another disappointing loss came at this event last year when he lost to qualifier James Sekulov in the quarterfinals and the Australian player suggested that the game had passed Chang.

Carl thought the turning point came in Paris last fall when Chang was forced to qualify for an indoor event. He revealed that they had asked for a wild-card spot but were turned down. Chang survived this indignity and reached the semifinals before losing to Marat Safin.

Since then, the improvement has not been dramatic but gradual. Finally, patience and poise paid off and Chang was visibly thrilled. He will be ranked No. 22 in the ATP Champions Race when the latest standings are released today.

“To be able to break through and win a title after the past couple of years is pretty special for me,” said Chang, who finished 1999 ranked No. 50. “I’ve had opportunities to win, but I didn’t feel much confidence in those events. Here, in L.A., where I grew up playing, I’ve got a lot of family and friends here. I’m kind of playing in my hometown, so to speak. It’s pretty neat.”

Not so neat were the number of withdrawals that took a heavy toll on the luster of the tournament. The effect was evident in the attendance, which dipped to 76,987 overall this year after reaching 81,433 last year. A crowd of 7,027 saw the final.

*

Venus Rules

Venus Williams wins at Palo Alto in rematch of Wimbledon final with Lindsay Davenport. Page 4.

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L.A. OPEN

Now referred to as the Mercedes-Benz Cup

PAST CHAMPIONS

1927 Bill Tilden

1928 Henri Cochet

1929 John Doeg

1930 Ellsworth Vines

1931 Ellsworth Vines

1932 Fred Perry

1933 Fred Perry

1934 Fred Perry

1935 Don Budge

1936 Don Budge

1937 Don Budge

1938 Adrian Quist

1939 John Bromwich

1940 Bobby Riggs

1941 Frank Parker

1942 Frank Parker

1943 Jack Kramer

1944 Frank Parker

1945 Frank Parker

1946 Jack Kramer

1947 Jack Kramer

1948 Ted Schroeder

1949 Pancho Gonzalez

1950 Frank Sedgman

1951 Frank Sedgman

1952 Vic Seixas

1953 Ken Rosewall

1954 Vic Seixas

1955 Tony Trabert

1956 Herbert Flam

1957 Vic Seixas

1958 Ham Richardson

1959 Roy Emerson

1960 Barry MacKay

1961 Jon Douglas

1962 Roy Emerson

1963 Arthur Ashe

1964 Roy Emerson

1965 Dennis Ralston

1966 Allen Fox

1967 Roy Emerson

1968 Rod Laver

1969 Pancho Gonzalez

1970 Rod Laver

1971 Pancho Gonzalez

1972 Stan Smith

1973 Jimmy Connors

1974 Jimmy Connors

1975 Arthur Ashe

1976 Brian Gottfried

1977 Stan Smith

1978 Arthur Ashe

1979 Peter Fleming

1980 Gene Mayer

1981 John McEnroe

1982 Jimmy Connors

1983 Gene Mayer

1984 Jimmy Connors

1985 Paul Annacone

1986 John McEnroe

1987 David Pate

1988 Mikael Pernfors

1989 Aaron Krickstein

1990 Stefan Edberg

1991 Pete Sampras

1992 Richard Krajicek

1993 Richard Krajicek

1994 Boris Becker

1995 Michael Stich

1996 Michael Chang

1997 Jim Courier

1998 Andre Agassi

1999 Pete Sampras

2000 Michael Chang

CHANG YEAR BY YEAR

Tournaments won by Michael Chang each year (with year-end singles rank):

1987 0 (No. 163)

1988 1 (No. 30)

1989 2 (No. 5)

1990 1 (No. 15)

1991 1 (No. 15)

1992 3 (No. 6)

1993 5 (No. 8)

1994 6 (No. 6)

1995 4 (No. 5)

1996 3 (No. 2)

1997 5 (No. 3)

1998 2 (No. 29)

1999 0 (No. 50)

2000 1 (No. 23*)

*--Does not include Sunday’s win