Michael Chang

Michael Te - Pei Chang ( born February 22, 1972 in Hoboken, New Jersey ) is a former American professional tennis player.

Career

Michael Chang (Michael Te - Pei Chang) (张德培; Pinyin: Zhang Depei ) is the child of Taiwanese immigrants. At age 12, he won his first tournament, the USTA Junior Hard Court singles. In 1988, he dropped out of high school and became a professional. The following year, he was at the age of 17 years by winning the French Open for the youngest ever winner of a Grand Slam tournament. In the final, he defeated the Swedes Stefan Edberg 6-1, 3:6, 4:6, 6:4, 6:2. In the second round he won previously plagued by cramps and on the verge of a task in a legendary match against Ivan Lendl in 4:43 hours with 4:6, 4:6, 6:3, 6:3, 6:3. The Czech desperate among other things, the partially unorthodox way of playing Chang, for example, the played as a simple forehand serve the American was surprising.

In 1995, he reached for the second time the finals of the French Open, but against Thomas Muster he had no chance. In the same year he defeated Boris Becker in the ATP World Championship in Frankfurt am Main also smooth in three sets. In 1996, he reached two finals at Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open again against Becker and at the U.S. Open against Pete Sampras. Both games he lost. Although he remained for several years in the top 10 in the world rankings and a total of 34 tournament victories celebrated, he could not repeat his Grand Slam success of 1989. With a total of over $ 19 million earned prize money, he was nevertheless one of the most successful tennis players of his time. His highest ranking position he reached in 1996 with second place. On August 26, 2003 Michael Chang played his last professional match. As part of the U.S. Open, he retired in the first round against the Chilean Fernando González.

Between 1989 and 1997 Michael Chang played six matches for the U.S. Davis Cup team. He came exclusively in batches used. From twelve games he won eight. In 1990, he won with the team the Davis Cup, after defeating Australia 3-2 in the final.

In 2008, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.