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Comeback kid Chang rejuvenated by Sydney in quest to rebuild career
SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (AFP) - Michael Chang believes the inspirational experience of playing under the Olympic flame can relight the fire under a career that appears to be getting back on track after his worst ever slump. The American remains a long way short of the form that made him the youngest ever French Open champion at 17 in 1989, and a US and Australian Open finalist in 1996. Last year, for the first time since he turned professional in 1988, Chang failed to reach a final in any event. But signs of a renaissance started to appear in the spring and in Los Angeles in July he finally ended his losing streak by winning his first title in more than two years. Having finished last year at 50th in the rankings, he has hauled himself back up to 24th and is now setting his sights on a return to the upper echelons of the game. "It's been a tough period but I've not had a bad summer and it was nice to be able to win a title after a while. Things seem to be getting progressively better." The improvement, Chang says, is due to a combination of factors that include a change in training methods -- pumping a little less iron and concentrating instead on improving flexibility and agility. "That's part of it, but part of it is also attitude -- going out and sticking with it. You have times when you fail but you pick yourself up and give it another whirl." It was exactly that kind of attitude that enabled Chang to make such an impression at an early age. His fourth round victory over Ivan Lendl on the way to the French Open title in 1989 -- to see the underdogs coming out of nowhere and be able to accomplish more than the favorites." Chang, who lost in the 2nd round of the recent US Open to his American teammate Todd Martin, is seeded 16th here and faces a tough route to the medal stages. A first round match with French wildcard entrant Sebastian Lareau should not trouble him unduly. But a run to the semi-finals is likely to require Chang to get past Britain's Tim Henman and Australia's rising star Lleyton Hewitt. But whatever happens here, Chang insists he is going to be around for a while. "I am happy with what I've achieved but I've still got goals -- things I would like to do tennis-wise. You haven't seen the last of me yet."
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