Michael Chang

Chang thus became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984.

Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach.

Michael Te-Pei Chang was born to Joe and Betty Chang on February 22, 1972, in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Chang's parents had emigrated to the United States from Taiwan.

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.

Betty quit her job as a chemist to travel with Chang on tour.

After rising to #163 in the world as a 15-year-old amateur, Chang dropped out of tenth grade at San Dieguito High School in Encinitas to pursue a professional tennis career.

During his title run, Chang registed a 6-4, 6-0 win over Mikael Pernfors, the 1986 French Open finalist who just the previous week had beaten Andre Agassi in the finals of Los Angeles.

In July 1987, at the age of 15, Chang won another USTA Junior Hard Court singles, beating Pete Sampras in the final, 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.

This victory earned him a wildcard for the U.S. Open.

On 1 September 1987, 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, 6-4) in the first round.

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.

He received his GED in February 1988.

Chang first came to the tennis world's attention at age 12 as an outstanding junior player who set numerous "youngest-ever" records.

Chang first came to the tennis world's attention at age 12 when he won his first national title, the USTA Junior Hard Court singles.

At age 13, he won the Fiesta Bowl 16s.

In 1988, aged 16 years and seven months, he won his first top-level singles title at San Francisco, defeating Johan Kriek in the final.

In 1988, 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.

He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old.

Chang's most significant "youngest-ever" record came in 1989 when he won the French Open at the age of 17 years, 115 days, to become the youngest male player ever to win a Grand Slam title.

He defeated Stefan Edberg in a five-set final, 6–1, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2.

His 1989 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.

At the 1989 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.

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.

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.

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.

Chang's match against Lendl was played on June 5, 1989, just one day after the height of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

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 1996.

Since he was shorter than virtually all of his opponents, he played a dogged defensive style utilizing his quickness and speed.

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

He began coaching Kei Nishikori in 2014.