KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Defending
Mercedes Benz champion Michael Chang loses to Pete
Sampras Wednesday night. Sampras will face Magnus Norman in the
quarterfinals.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Reporter
After their careers diverged years ago, Pete Sampras and Michael
Chang once again crossed paths last night in the second round of
the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA.
And although the No. 4 seeded Sampras took the match in straight
sets, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-2), Chang’s ferocity that lasted
nearly two hours clearly showed that he wasn’t about to fade
from the tennis world.
“Even though Michael is not playing at the level he was
five years ago, he’s still the type of player who is not
going to give you anything,” Sampras said.
The pair first began playing tennis together when Sampras was
only eight years old. Both broke into the tennis spotlight at the
same time, Chang winning the French Open in 1989 and Sampras taking
home the U.S. Open crown in 1990.
Chang proved he was up for the formidable challenge of
Sampras’ vaunted serve and volley attack. Surprisingly, he
claimed the first service break when two Sampras double faults
opened the door to a 4-3 first set Chang lead.
But Sampras answered just three games later. With Chang leading
5-4 and serving for the first set, Sampras squandered a break
opportunity at 30-40 but won the next two points to even the set at
5-5.
After a tremendous performance to hold serve at 6-6, Chang again
fought off the often overpowering Sampras, staving off three set
points in the tiebreaker before succumbing at 8-6.
“I didn’t play the big points as well as I could
have,” he said.
The second set went almost exactly the same as the first. This
time though, Sampras broke first, to which Chang answered with a
match-saving break on his third chance of the game.
Ultimately, Sampras’ relentless serve forced Chang back
onto his heels and led to easy points for Sampras, tennis’
all-time leader in Grand Slam championships. Chang won only 8
percent of the points when Sampras got his first serve in, and some
of Sampras’ second serves topped the 110 mile per hour
mark.
The closely contested match provided Sampras with good match
experience for the quarterfinals, where he will face seventh seed
Magnus Norman.
“It’s good to grind out a good match,” Sampras
said, adding about Chang: “If anything, he might be missing
that one ball that he (would have) made five years ago. Still,
he’s very efficient with his movement and
experience.”
Although Sampras will move on to contest for his third
Mercedes-Benz Cup title, the fans at Straus Stadium appreciated the
signature hustle from Chang, last year’s champion, honoring
him with a standing ovation on his departure.