Michael Chang, the only Asian-American to have won a Grand Slam singles title (the 1989 French Open), said that he has met and counseled fellow Asian-American and NBA sensation Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks.
"We have kind of a similar background," said Chang, who is playing at the ATP Champions Tour stop in Delray Beach. "We’ve both come from a middle class family and I know Jeremy had a really great high school career and obviously did really well at Harvard. I think that obviously being Asian-American and also both being of the Christian faith, we have a lot of things in common, so it’s nice to see him break free and do so well. I had some contact with him after he was done at Harvard. He has a mutual friend with my wife [former Stanford standout Amber Liu] and I had the opportunity to talk with him a little and encourage him, give him some advice on what it’s like to play professional sports. Obviously tennis is a little bit different because it’s an individual sport, but the lifestyle of being on the road and having to deal with a lot of different pressures and circumstances I think is very similar. So it was a good opportunity to guide him a little and I still try to encourage him whenever I can. I would love to see him continue the way he’s going. It’s a little bit of a juggling act right now for him, with everything that’s going on and all the attention, but I always told myself when I was playing that the most important thing were my expectations of myself."
Chang also told the Palm Beach Post that when he turned pro as a young teenager he did have his doubters. "I got comments about being too small, too short, there haven't been any Asian players and who am I to go out there and turn pro before my 16th birthday?" Chang said. "And that's all good and fine. People want to have their comments and their opinions. Ultimately, you do what you believe in your heart. I think for me, things turned out OK."