Michael Chang


Michael Te-pei Chang is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. He won a total of 34 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including seven Masters titles, and was a three-time major runner-up.
Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008. He coached Kei Nishikori from 2014 to 2025, and currently coaches Learner Tien.

Early life

Michael Te-Pei Chang was born to Joe and Betty Chang on February 22, 1972, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Chang's parents had emigrated to the United States from Taiwan.
After moving from Hoboken to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he learned tennis, Chang and his family moved first to Placentia, California, and then to Encinitas, California, to increase the tennis opportunities for him and his older brother, Carl. Growing up, Chang learned some Chinese from his Taiwanese parents and can speak Mandarin. Betty quit her job as a chemist to travel with Chang on tour. After rising to #163 in the world as a 15-year-old amateur, Chang dropped out of tenth grade at San Dieguito High School in Encinitas to pursue a professional tennis career. He received his GED in February 1988.

Tennis career

Junior

Chang first came to the tennis world's attention at age 12 as an outstanding junior player who set numerous "youngest-ever" records. At age 12 he also won his first national title, the USTA Junior Hard Court singles. At age 13, he won the Fiesta Bowl 16s. In July 1987, at the age of 15, Chang won another USTA Junior Hard Court singles, beating Pete Sampras in the final, and a month later, in Kalamazoo, he won America’s most prestigious junior event, the United States Nationals U18s tournament, beating Jim Courier in the final. This victory earned him a wildcard for the U.S. Open.
Chang was introduced to tennis by his father Joe, who was his first coach. During his rise in 1989, he was coached by José Higueras. For much of his professional career, he was coached by his older brother Carl Chang, who also played in several doubles tournaments with him in the early 1990s.
Chang's success marked the start of an era in which a new generation of American players—which also included Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, and Andre Agassi—would come to dominate the game.

Professional

On 1 September 1987, at age 15, Chang became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open when he defeated Paul McNamee in four sets in the first round. A month later, he reached the semifinals at the Scottsdale Open, to become the youngest player to reach the semifinal stage of a top-level professional tournament.
In 1988, aged 16 years and seven months, he won his first top-level singles title at the Transamerica Open, defeating Johan Kriek in the final. During his title run, Chang registered a 6-4, 6-0 win over Mikael Pernfors, the 1986 French Open finalist who just the previous week had beaten Andre Agassi in the finals of the Los Angeles Open.

1989 French Open

Chang's most significant "youngest-ever" record came in 1989 when he won the French Open at the age of, to become the youngest male player ever to win a Grand Slam title. He defeated Stefan Edberg in a five-set final, 6–1, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. Chang thus became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984. Chang's 1989 French Open tournament performance is equally remembered for overcoming significant cramps during an epic fourth-round encounter with Ivan Lendl, who was then the world's No. 1-ranked player, reigning Australian Open champion, and a three-time former French Open champion.
In 1988, Chang had been easily beaten by Lendl in an exhibition match held in Des Moines, Iowa. After the match, Lendl advised Chang, "First off, you've got no serve. And you've certainly got no second serve. You can't hurt me. You can run but you better develop a weapon to survive out here", all weaknesses that Chang worked to improve on.
At the 1989 French Open, Lendl appeared to be on the way to beating Chang after taking the first two sets 6–4, 6–4 and breaking Chang's serve in his opening service game of the third set. However, Chang broke back immediately and went on to claim the third set, 6–3. During the fourth set, Chang experienced a severe attack of leg cramps, and though he won the set to level the match, he considered retiring from the match while up 2–1 in the fifth set. He later said that he felt "an unbelievable conviction in my heart" not to give up, and decided to finish the match. Chang adopted some unusual tactics in an attempt to overcome his cramps. Those tactics included hitting shots high into the air to slow the match down and going for more winners in order to shorten the points. The success of these tactics caused the normally unfazed Lendl to lose his rhythm and also prompted him to swear at the umpire and the crowd, especially after losing a key point in the fifth set when Chang shocked him by delivering an under-arm serve. On match point, Chang stood just behind the service line while waiting to receive Lendl's second serve, a move that was considered suicidal. The tactic worked as the crowd became bemused which in turn caused Lendl to lose his cool and produce a double-fault on his second serve, giving Chang the victory, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3, in 4 hours and 37 minutes.
Chang subsequently defeated Ronald Agénor in the quarter-final and Andrei Chesnokov in the semi-final. Then seven days after his match against Lendl, after beating Stefan Edberg in five sets, Chang went on to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires, becoming the youngest Grand Slam men's singles champion history. Chang became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984. In August 1989, Chang became the youngest player to be ranked in the world's top 5.
Chang's match against Lendl was played on June 5, 1989, just one day after the height of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Chang has frequently noted the impact of the massacre when recalling his French Open victory:

Chang would defeat Lendl again in near-duplicate fashion, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 9–7 in a 4-hour, 42-minute semi-final match at the Grand Slam Cup on December 14, 1991.

Top five ranked player

Chang met Edberg in the semifinals of the US Open in 1992; this time, Edberg won in five sets, 6–7, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4. The five-hour, 26-minute match is the second longest in US Open history. Chang reached three further Grand Slam finals after his 1989 French Open triumph, losing the 1995 French Open final to Thomas Muster, the 1996 Australian Open final to Boris Becker, and the 1996 US Open final to Pete Sampras. In the 1995 French Open, he defeated Michael Stich and then two-time defending champion Sergi Bruguera in the semifinals in straight sets, eventually losing to Muster. In both the 1996 Australian and U.S. Opens, he defeated Andre Agassi in the semifinals in straight sets; a win over Sampras at the U.S. Open would have made Chang the no. 1 player in the world. In the 1997 U.S. Open, he was the odds-on favorite to win after Sampras was upset by Petr Korda; however, Chang lost to eventual champion Patrick Rafter in the semifinals in straight sets.
Chang was the first player to be beaten by Roger Federer in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the 2000 Australian Open. He was also the second player to be beaten by Andy Roddick in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, in the second round of the French Open in 2001.
Chang retired from the professional tour in 2003. During his career, he won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles. His final top-level title was won in 2000 at Los Angeles. His total career prize-money earnings was US$19,145,632. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 2 in 1996, following his US Open finals performance. He was a year-end top-ten player for six consecutive years in the 1990s, a feat matched in the decade only by Pete Sampras. He is one of a few players to win ATP titles in three different decades. His three Indian Wells Masters titles was an ATP record which stood for 15 years, before being eclipsed by Roger Federer in 2012.

International play

Chang was a key member of the US team which won the Davis Cup in 1990. In the semifinals in Austria, his dramatic comeback from two-sets down against Horst Skoff, 3–6, 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3, led the US into its first Davis Cup final since 1984. Chang went on to defeat Darren Cahill in straight sets, as the US defeated Australia in the final. He was also on the US team which won the World Team Cup in 1993. His best performance in the year-end singles championship came in 1995, when he defeated Muster, Jim Courier, and then dominated Pete Sampras in the semifinals, before losing in the final to Boris Becker.
Chang represented the US in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, reaching the second round before being eliminated by Jaime Oncins. He chose to skip the 1996 Summer Olympics despite the fact that the event was held in Atlanta and that he would have been the tournament's number-one seed. Chang participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was eliminated in the first round by Sébastien Lareau.

Awards and recognition

Chang signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Reebok in 1988; he wore Reebok apparel and Reebok Court Victory Pumps shoes during his tennis career and used Prince rackets on court. He started using the Prince "Precision Michael Chang Graphite" 28-inch signature racket in 1994, which was an inch longer than the standard model.
Chang signed endorsement deals with Nissin Foods noodles in 1989, Panasonic and Longines in the 1990s, Cathay Pacific Airlines in 1990, Bristol-Myers Squibb promoting Nuprin in 1991, Stelux watches in 1993, Discover Card in 1996, Tiger Balm, Procter & Gamble, Eveready Battery Company, and Yale locks. In 1997, he signed a multi-year contract to endorse Watch Reebok, a collection of sports watches. A limited edition Michael Chang signature watch was released at Christmas.