Happy Birthday! Michael Chang turns 50 today
Michael Chang , to date the youngest individual winner of a Grand Slam tournament for men, is celebrating his 50th birthday this Tuesday.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Feb 22, 2022, 07:38 pm
Anyone who wins their first Grand Slam tournament at the age of 16 can rightly assume that this coup would not be the last of their career. Especially not if this triumph came about like that of Michael Chang in 1989 in Roland Garros. There, the American teenager was able to pull the last nerve on Ivan Lendl, including with serves from below. In the final, Stefan Edberg had to admit defeat to the newcomer, Edberg's only chance of winning a title on Parisian sand was to remain.
Michael Chang won another one: In 1995 he faced Thomas Muster in the final, but lost to the Styrian in three sets. Muster had already defeated Change in the legendary Davis Cup encounter between Austria and the USA in Vienna's Prater Stadium in 1990. Chang took revenge in the decisive fifth match, defeated Horst Skoff and advanced to the final with the USA.
Chang with 32 career titles
Chang reached two more Grand Slam finals, both in 1996: he lost to Boris Becker at the Australian Open and Pete Sampras at the US Open. Between 1988 and 2000, Michael Chang won a total of 32 tournaments on the ATP tour, the first indoors in San Francisco against Johan Kriek, the last in Los Angeles in the final against compatriot Jan-Michael Gambill.
After his active career, Michael Chang also appeared as a coach on the ATP tour. But even he failed to lead Kei Nishikori to a major title. Today Chang celebrates his 50th birthday.