Posted on 05/28/2003 4:15:38 AM PDT by rhema
It's not even 10:30 on Friday morning and Michael Chang has already sweated entirely through his white shirt.
Michael Chang is losing in the first round of most tournaments lately.
He works the baseline here in practice on Court 1 at Roland Garros, hitting opposite Yevgeny Kafelnikov, emitting soft grunts -- oooh, uhhh ... oooh, uhhh ... -- as he slides from side to side. Kafelnikov rips a forehand that may or may not have clipped the line and Chang wanders over to inspect the mark. He squints, then sighs and walks back to the baseline. Indeed, it hit the line.
This, it seems, is Michael Chang's life these days. Even Tripp Phillips -- a young American who beat him in a Challenger a few weeks ago -- got more than his share of the breaks. Against, Kafelnikov, Chang comes up consistently short: He mis-hits a cross-court forehand that nearly sails into the empty seats, he can't reach a backhand down the line, he applauds a bomb of a first serve down the middle. Too good.
For Chang, 31, it is too bad. Fourteen years ago here at Roland Garros, he was incandescent. He created his own breaks. He ran down every ball. He won the French Open at the age of 17, announcing the next generation of American male tennis players. It was so easy for him then. Now? He is a museum piece, playing out his final matches in the last season of his career, soaking up the rousing applause he deserves. His week is front-loaded with all kinds of appearances designed to honor him.
His peers appreciate his contributions to tennis, his unerring consistency and quality of effort. After 55 minutes of hitting, Kafelnikov wins the final point and races straight at Chang. He lunges over the net and clears it -- barely -- then shakes Chang's hand.
Andre Agassi, sitting in the first row of seats, waiting for his practice time, laughs at Kafelnikov's style -- or lack of it.
"That was a near miss," Agassi yells to the players as they come off the court.
Later, when Chang is stretching his aging legs, Agassi sets down his racket bag and asks, "How are you?"
Chang nods. "Congratulations on number two coming," Chang says, referring to the news that Agassi's wife, Steffi Graf, is expecting a second child.
Agassi thanks him and says he's a little disappointed that Graf will not be playing mixed doubles with him at the French Open.
"It's amazing the lengths she'll go to avoid playing," Agassi says.
And both athletes, members of the sweet, select group that has won a Grand Slam singles title, break into laughter. Smiling, they catch each other's eye. They nod. Here on the red clay, under a warm sun, it is a moment sublime.
It is a snapshot we will never see again.
< snip >
Ask Chang about his favorite memories in the game and he begins with Roland Garros.
"It was pretty fun to have the ride at the '89 French," he said. "To finally win in Memphis [1997] was great, to be able to get a hug from a little girl, a cancer survivor, was wonderful. To win Indian Wells and Key Biscayne back to back [in 1992] was great. To be able to win in Beijing three times in a row [1993-95] was great, to have all those people behind me."
Chang, an Asian-American, was enormously popular on the Asian circuit, where he won 19 tournaments in places like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Jakarta. He always has been the model of decorum and sincerity -- words that don't always describe the professional athlete.
According to Chang, the competition among the Americans sometimes congealed into friction.
"The roughest times between the four of us were when all four of us were at the top, when we were excelling at our games," Chang said. "When you looked at the draw, you'd be trying to figure out where Andre, Pete and Jim are, where you're going to play in the quarterfinals, semifinals or final."
These days, Michael Chang revels in the small victories.
One time, Courier and Chang were hitting on a practice court and Courier asked if he wanted to play a set.
"Let's just hit and play some points," Chang answered.
"To be honest," Chang explained, "I already knew he was in my section [of the draw], and I knew before we even played our first-round matches, that for sure we were going to play in the quarterfinals. I didn't want to give him any hints, of how well I was playing that week, what my weaknesses were then.
"So the times when we were on the top was when we were furthest apart. Now, at the end of our careers, we've come to appreciate each other more and come to greet each other with a little more warmth, a little more encouragement, a little more love. It's definitely a cycle."
The cycle, despite Agassi's status as a French Open favorite, is nearly over.
Mutual motivation
It is instructive that Chang says if Agassi and Sampras had "already stopped playing by now, I would have already retired."
Sampras won a record 14 Grand Slam singles titles, Agassi has a chance to add to his total of eight and Courier managed four Slams in a narrow window of eight events over three seasons. All three athletes rose to the No. 1 ranking in the world. The best Chang did was No. 2, after he was runner-up to Sampras in the 1996 U.S. Open.
The world always has seen Chang as a classic overachiever. In his mind, at least, was he an underachiever?
"I don't think so," Chang said evenly. "It's difficult to say. I mean, if I go out and try to compare myself to those three it would be easy to say I didn't achieve as much as I could have. But as long as I know in my heart that I gave it my all, I'm content with that.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to win another one outside of that French. I try not to compare myself in that aspect, but I definitely feel like those three players are definitely exceptional people and exceptional tennis players.
"It's great to be able to see them accomplish so much, knowing that you grew up with them."
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Michael Chang is a quintessential class act in professional sports.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com
Chang's example has helped tennis's lesser lights, too. Although my tennis "career" has been limited to an occasional local tournament and USTA league tennis in the summer, I've always held Michael Chang's personal and professional ethics as models for emulation.
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