Roland Garros’ red clay had served as a sink hole for American title hopes for decades. Hall of Famer Tony Trabert, who swept the singles and doubles titles in 1955, was the last American man to win there when the 1989 tournament began.
Then came Michael Chang, a fresh-faced, undersized, Chinese-American teenager who grew up on hard courts in California. Inspired by the Tiananmen Square protests in China, and often quoting scripture, Chang made a memorable mark playing a starring role in tennis’ David vs. Goliath saga.
Wearing a red, white, and blue-striped Reebok shirt, and white socks streaked with crushed red brick, Chang fought off crippling cramps and three-time French Open champion Ivan Lendl, calling on the power of perseverance and an underhanded serve he now calls the stone that helped slay Goliath. In a stunning upset, Chang stormed back from a two-set deficit to defeat the world No. 1 in a fourth-round match that spanned four hours and 39 minutes. Chang’s muscular legs were throbbing with cramps when he hit the famous underhanded serve in the fifth set that draw Lendl to net, where he passed the Czech with a forehand winner down the line, drawing astonished gasps from some members of the crowd. Chang recalls the cramps grew so painful that he began walking to the chair umpire intending to retire from the match, only to revive himself.
“[I thought] who am I kidding? I’m playing against Ivan Lendl, the three-time French Open champion,” Chang told Tennis Channel years later. “I started to walk toward the chair umpire and I got to the service line and I got an unbelievable conviction in my heart. My goal is to finish this match whether I win or whether I lose. All of a sudden before I know it, I'm on my back and I've beaten the No. 1 player in the world.”
Grunting at times with deep desire, Chang played a brilliant tactical match, mixing heavy topspin, the occasional moon ball, and some surprise runs to net to keep his harder-hitting opponent off balance. A rattled Lendl double faulted on match point to end the dramatic encounter.
That win came two rounds after Chang surrendered just three games in a second-round thrashing of Pete Sampras. Chang pulled off another memorable comeback in the final, rallying for a historic 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Stefan Edberg in a victory that made him the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion at 17 years, three months. The 15th-seeded counter-puncher snapped a 34-year U.S. men’s title drought in Paris with a trio of inspired victories.
“For me, at the French Open, if I wasn't playing my match I was glued to CNN watching the events unfold," Chang recalled. "The [Tiananmen Square] crackdown actually happened that Sunday of the French Open ... For me, I think the Lord wanted me to win to put a smile on Chinese people's faces.”
No. 5: Majoli d. Hingis (1997 Final)
No. 4: Kuerten d. Muster, Kafelnikov, Bruguera (1997)
No. 3: Chang d. Lendl (1989 Fourth Round)
No. 2: Soderling d. Nadal (2009 Fourth Round)
No. 1: Horvath d. Navratilova (1983 Fourth Round)<strong><em>*</em><em>*</em></strong>
