Michael Chang has only three left to go.
After 15 years in the pros, Chang has decided to retire this
year. The Mercedes-Benz Cup will be his third-to-last tournament
ever, as he is retiring after the U.S. Open in late August.
“I feel good about my decision,” Chang said.
“My career really started at the U.S. Open and it’s
the only tournament I will have played 17 times in my career. I
played once as an amateur, as a 15-year-old. It’s where I
started my career and where I would like to finish out and
hopefully finish out on a high note.”
On top of winning the 1989 French Open, Chang won the
Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA twice, in 1996 and 2000, and has won 34
ATP singles titles throughout his career.
He will be the tournament honoree at this year’s
Mercedes-Benz Cup, a tournament in which he has appeared in the
finals five times. Previous tournament honorees include Arthur
Ashe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Rod Laver.
“I really grew up playing tennis in Southern
California,” Chang said.
“To be able to play in the UCLA tournament is like playing
tennis in my own backyard, as well as Pete’s (Sampras)
backyard. It’s been enjoyable for me to play there for so
many years and to have won the tournament a couple of
times.”
Over his career, Chang has earned $19 million in prize money and
has won 650 singles matches. He has appeared in 56 grand slams,
third all-time behind Jimmy Connors (58) and Ivan Lendl (57).
But Chang has been struggling this year, winning only two of
seven matches and skipping Wimbledon because he didn’t feel
like he had “a realistic chance of winning.”
“I would have had to deal with the surface change,”
Chang said. “Going from grass to hard court, that would have
played into my preparation for the summer and kept me out of the
U.S. Open.”
While Chang is no longer as dominant as he once was, he can
still play. He hasn’t been playing as poorly as his current
year’s record may indicate.
Two of the losses were to Andre Agassi (No. 1 at the time), one
was to Paradorn Srichaphan (No. 12) and one to Carlos Moya (No.
25).
But there’s something about the Mercedes-Benz Cup that
brings out the best in the Southern California native, where even
late in his career, he has been successful, going 8-3 at UCLA over
the last four years.
“It was very beneficial to have grown up and play in the
Southern California section,” Chang said.
“It was a very, very strong section. Not just with Pete
and myself, but with my brother Carl, and with Andre Agassi in Las
Vegas, who would come over to play because there was more
competition here. The depth and the competition was strong and it
benefited all of us.”
Chang, Agassi and Sampras are all near the ends of their
careers, and once comprised a core of great American tennis
players. Some have suggested America needs some young American
tennis players to latch on to and follow. Chang doesn’t see
the problem some tennis fans say exists.
“I think American tennis is looking much brighter,”
Chang said.
“You have a lot of talented Americans who are starting to
play well. Andre (Agassi) is still playing well and leading
the pack. He is a great ambassador for the sport and for American
tennis. But with the likes of (Andy) Roddick, Jan-Michael
Gambill and James Blake, I feel that American tennis is strong and
heading in the right direction. Hopefully these guys will not
feel too much pressure having to follow our generation.”
Because the generation of Agassi, Sampras and Chang was one of
the best in American tennis history, there will be pressure.