By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It took Michael Chang 57 minutes to win the first set of his
opening match Tuesday night, and only 33 more too finish off
Australian qualifier Paul Kilderry 6-3, 6-2.
In a battle of baseliners, Chang hit almost everything in sight,
continuously frustrating Kilderry. Chang’s serve, which
topped out at 118 mph for the night, was only broken once. After
breaking Chang in the first set to close it 5-3, Kilderry did not
get any closer the rest of the night.
“I think last year I was definitely struggling,”
Chang said. “I give 100 percent or I don’t give at
all.
“I’ve played Paul before, so tonight I had to play
consistent … play aggressive … I felt pretty good out
there,” he added.
Last year, Chang lost in the first round to James Sekulov,
another Australian. This year Sekulov lost on Monday to
UCLA’s Justin Gimelstop 6-3, 6-3.
The loudest crowd of the tournament’s first round helped
Chang get off to 3-0 leads in both sets.
In typical baseliner fashion, neither player approached the net.
Every time Kilderry did manage to win a long rally, Chang
immediately answered by winning the next point. The strategy fell
right into the hands of long-game specialist Chang, who won the
tournament in 1996.
Chang will play Kevin Ullyet in the next round. Ullyet beat
Ronald Agenor 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 on Monday to get to the second
round.