Michael chang tennis player shirtless boys

American tennis player

This article is about the US former professional tennis player. For the Anglican Bishop of Fukien, see Michael Chang (bishop). For the Glee character, see Mike Chang.

Not to be confused with Maikel Chang.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Chang.

Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, ) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the French Open at 17 years and days old.

Chang won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles, (including seven Masters titles) was a three-time major runner-up and reached a career-best ranking of world No. 2 in Since he was shorter than virtually all of his opponents, he played a dogged defensive style utilizing his quickness and speed.

In , Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He began coaching Kei Nishikori in

Early life

Michael Te-Pei Chang^[3] was born to Joe and Betty Chang on February 22, , in Hoboken, New Jersey. Chang's parents had emigrated to the United States from Taiwan.^[4][5][6]

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.^[7] Betty quit her job as a chemist to travel with Chang on tour.^[8] After rising to # in the world as a year-old amateur, Chang dropped out of tenth grade at San Dieguito High School in Encinitas to pursue a professional tennis career.

Michael Chang (@_chang10) • Instagram photos and videos: You have to decide what to fish for, the type of hook, the position of the boat" and what kind of bait to use. September 9, 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. May 31,

He received his GED in February

Tennis career

Junior career

Chang first came to the tennis world's attention at age 12 as an outstanding junior player who set numerous "youngest-ever" records.^[9][10] 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.^[10][11] In July , at the age of 15, Chang won another USTA Junior Hard Court singles, beating Pete Sampras in the final,^[12] 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.^[12][13] This victory earned him a wildcard for the U.S.

Open.^[9]

Professional career

On 1 September , 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 (6–3, 6–7, 6–4, ) in the first round.^[9][10] A month later, he reached the semifinals at Scottsdale, Arizona, to become the youngest player to reach the semifinal stage of a top-level professional tournament.^[14] In , aged 16 years and seven months, he won his first top-level singles title at San Francisco, defeating Johan Kriek in the final.^[10] During his title run, Chang registed a , win over Mikael Pernfors, the French Open finalist who just the previous week had beaten Andre Agassi in the finals of Los Angeles.^[12]

Chang's most significant "youngest-ever" record came in when he won the French Open at the age of 17&#;years, &#;days, to become the youngest male player ever to win a Grand Slam title.^[10] He defeated Stefan Edberg in a five-set final, 6–1, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2.^[15] Chang thus became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in , and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since ^[10] His French Open tournament performance is equally remembered for an epic fourth-round encounter with Ivan Lendl, who was then the world's No.

1-ranked player, was the reigning Australian Open champion, and was a three-time former French Open champion.^[10][16]

In , 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.^[17] At the 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.^[18][19]

Chang adopted some unusual tactics in an attempt to overcome his cramps.

Those tactics included hitting shots high into the air (known as "moon balls") to slow the match down and going for more winners in order to shorten the points.^[20] The success of these tactics caused 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.^[21] On match point, Chang stood just behind the service line while waiting to receive Lendl's second serve.

The tactic worked, as Lendl produced a double-fault to give 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 men's champion in Grand Slam history.^[22][23] Chang's match against Lendl was played on June 5, , 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:

A lot of people forget that Tiananmen Square was going on. The crackdown that happened was on the middle Sunday at the French Open, so if I was not practicing or playing a match, I was glued to the television, watching the events unfoldI often tell people I think it was God's purpose for me to be able to win the French Open the way it was won because I was able to put a smile on Chinese people's faces around the world at a time when there wasn't much to smile about.^[24]

Chang became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in ,^[25][26][27] and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since ^[28] In August , Chang became the youngest player to be ranked in the world's top 5.

Chang would defeat Lendl again in near-duplicate fashion, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 (7–5), 9–7 in a 4-hour, minute semi-final match at the Grand Slam Cup on December 14, ^[29]

Chang met Edberg in the semifinals of the US Open in ; this time, Edberg won in five sets, 6–7, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4.

The five-hour, minute match is the second longest in US Open history.^[30][31] Chang reached three further Grand Slam finals after his French Open triumph, losing the French Open final to Thomas Muster, the Australian Open final to Boris Becker, and the US Open final to Pete Sampras. In the 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 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 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 Australian Open.^[32] 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 ^[33]

Chang was introduced to tennis by his father Joe, who was his first coach.

During his rise in (including his French Open title), 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 s.

Chang retired from the professional tour in During his career, he won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles. His final top-level title was won in at Los Angeles. His total career prize-money earnings was US$19,, His career-high singles ranking was world no. 2 in , following his US Open finals performance.

He was a year-end top-ten player for six consecutive years in the s (–), 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

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.^[22]

International play

Chang was a key member of the US team which won the Davis Cup in 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 ^[34] 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 His best performance in the year-end singles championship came in , 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 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, reaching the second round before being eliminated by Jaime Oncins.

He chose to skip the Summer Olympics despite the fact that the event was held in Atlanta and that he would have been the tournament's number-one seed (the singles' gold medal was won by Andre Agassi). Chang participated in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was eliminated in the first round by Sébastien Lareau.

Awards and recognition

Equipment and endorsements

Chang signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Reebok in ;^[37] he wore Reebok apparel and Reebok Court Victory Pumps shoes^[38] during his tennis career^[39] and used Prince rackets on court.^[40] He started using the Prince "Precision Michael Chang Graphite" inch signature racket in , which was an inch longer than the standard model.^[41]

Chang signed endorsement deals with Nissin Foods noodles in ,^[42]Panasonic^[43] and Longines in the s,^[44]Cathay Pacific Airlines in ,^[45]Bristol-Myers Squibb promoting Nuprin in ,^[46] Stelux watches in ,^[47]Discover Card in ,^[48]Tiger Balm,^[49]Procter & Gamble (endorsing P&G's Rejoice Shampoo),^[50]Eveready Battery Company (endorsing Eveready Alkaline batteries),^[50] and Yale locks.^[37] In , 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.^[51]

Off-the-court endeavors

Coaching

Chang began coaching Kei Nishikori in ^[52][53]

Business ventures

Chang and his family established CMCB Enterprises, which has real estate holdings including shopping malls, in California, Texas, Arizona and Colorado.

In , they bought Dunton Realty Co., a retail brokerage and property management company,^[54] and changed its name to Dunton Commercial Real Estate Co.^[55] In , they bought SullivanHayes Cos., a retail real estate company in Denver.^[56] It was chosen by Denver International Airport to develop a new acre retail project along Peña Boulevard, the airport's main artery.^[57]

Charity work

Chang served as Chairman of ATP Tour Charities in ^[11] He has supported grassroots tennis development in Asia through his Stars of the Future program in Hong Kong and the Reebok Challenge across Asia.^[11] He was one of five athletes named in the second annual "Most Caring Athlete" list by USA Today Weekend in ^[58] In , he was given one of seven Asian-American leadership awards by A Magazine for his status as a role model for Asian-American youth.^[11] He has also served as a national spokesman for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in the US.^[59]

In , Chang served as a goodwill ambassador for the Beijing Olympic bid committee.^[60]

Hobbies

Chang is an avid fisherman, and often took fishing trips while traveling for tournaments.

In his home in Mercer Island, Washington, he set up several fresh-water aquariums, his largest being gallons, eight-feet long by two feet high, which he uses to breed African cichilds among other things.^[11]

Book

In , Chang published a book about his career entitled Holding Serve: Persevering On and Off the Court.^[61][62]

Education

Chang attended the master's in ministry program at Biola University in La Mirada, California, for a year and a half.

He serves on Biola's Board of Trustees.^[63]

Personal life

On 18 October , Chang married Amber Liu, also a professional tennis player.^[64][65] They have three children,^[66] including two daughters.^[67][68] He is a devout Christian.^[69][70][62]

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 4 (1–3)

Year-end championships finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Grand Slam Cup finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Masters Series finals

Singles: 9 (7–2)

ATP career finals

Singles: 58 (34 wins, 24 runners-up)

Singles performance timeline

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

¹ Held as Stockholm Masters until , Stuttgart Masters from to

Top 10 wins