Martin Sweeps by Chang as U.S. Showdown Fizzles

Long obscured in the giant shadows of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi among the upper echelon of U.S. tennis players, Todd Martin and Michael Chang took center stage Friday in a featured match at the U.S. Open.

It had the potential for great theater, two U.S. Olympians battling for an edge going into Sydney, Australia, this month.

But Chang, a winner at UCLA in the Mercedes-Benz Cup in July for his first title in two years but a non-factor in Grand Slam events since reaching the U.S. Open semifinals three years ago, was not up to the challenge.

Martin, a U.S. Open finalist last year, blew past him in Arthur Ashe Stadium, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, to move into the third round.

The victory was Martin’s first over Chang since 1993, ending a five-match losing streak.

Another streak seemed in jeopardy in the featured night match at the National Tennis Center, but third-seeded Venus Williams overcame a 3-0 deficit and her own shaky serving to beat Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-6 (3), 6-1, for her 22nd consecutive victory.

The Wimbledon champion, whose winning streak is the longest of the year on the women’s tour, has not lost since the quarterfinals of the French Open.

But her serve was broken three times in the first set, when she double-faulted six times, and she had eight double-faults in all.

“I was a little bit confused on my serve,” Williams said. “I was pulling down too quickly. I think the main problem was that I wasn’t seeing how I wanted to hit it clearly in my mind, so it was not translating. . . .

“Also, I was thinking about it much too much. Some of the serves when I wasn’t thinking about it, I was thinking about something totally different, suddenly I hit a great second serve. So I have to stop thinking too much.”

Shaughnessy, ranked 51st, said she lost her nerve after dropping the tiebreaker.

“The second set, I gave it to her,” she said. “I didn’t play with emotion and I didn’t fight as hard as I fought in the first set.

“I think part of it was, physically I’m not used to playing at that level, and also part of it was, mentally I just dropped down.”

No such letdown was experienced by top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland, who rolled into the round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Tathiana Garbin of Italy.

Sixth-seeded Monica Seles, bidding for her third U.S. Open title, beat Chanda Rubin, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Third-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden, the highest-seeded player left in the men’s draw after the surprising early departures of top-seeded Andre Agassi and second-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, moved easily into the third round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Cyril Saulnier of France.

“I think I found my game last week in Long Island,” said Norman, whose victory Sunday over Thomas Enqvist of Sweden followed early-round exits at Toronto and Cincinnati. “Everything went perfect that week. I feel great this week, even though I haven’t played 100% here yet.”

Sixth-seeded Marat Safin of Russia survived a determined upset bid by 35-year-old Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, the oldest player in the men’s draw. Safin won, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, in 3 hours 8 minutes.

Martin, 30, had a much easier time dispatching Chang. Though he had only six aces, Martin won all but one of 44 points when he put his first serve in play.

“I served very well, and I served smart,” Martin said. “That’s the biggest key, especially against somebody like Michael. With all due respect, I felt like he made it pretty easy on me.

“He stood on the baseline the whole match, and I served body serve after body serve after body serve, which is the easiest serve to hit, greatest margin for error, and he didn’t do a lot to change that.”

Asked if Chang, 28, had lost a step, Martin said no, but suggested another reason for Chang’s decline.

“There’s no substitute for confidence,” he said. “In the mid-90s, he was booming with confidence.”

Notes

Debbie Graham, a former La Quinta High and Stanford player who suffers from a disorder that makes her blood prone to clotting, ended her 10-year career with a loss in a second-round doubles match. Graham, 30, and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia lost to Anke Huber of Germany and Barbara Schett of Austria, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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