Revenge Is sweet
Chang defeats American rival Courier 6-3, 6-4
Posted: Saturday July 25, 1998 01:27 AM
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Chang looked in perfect form in defeating Courier Clive Brunskill/Allsport |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Michael Chang produced one of his classic performances of speed and precision to beat fellow American Jim Courier 6-3, 6-4 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the $700,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
Chang, the top seed here, avenged a loss in their last encounter, an epic three-set battle in Orlando in May.
Chang will play Scott Draper in the semifinals. Draper -- the 14th seed whom many have compared to a fellow Australian lefthander, the legendary Rod Laver -- beat fifth seed and 1997 French Open semifinalist Filip Dewulf of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.
The 89 ranking points that separate Andre Agassi and Sebastien Lareau showed, as the second-seeded American dispatched the unseeded Canadian 6-1, 6-2 in 56 minutes. Agassi will face Wayne Ferreira of South Africa in the semifinals.
"I'm in a nice rhythm, and it can only get better," Agassi said. "I'm looking forward to every match. In the quarterfinals, if you win a match handily, that's good."
Ferreira, the third seed, needed three sets to beat sixth-seeded American Vince Spadea 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1.
Chang has not taken a title since winning in Washington a year ago, but looked in perfect form in defeating Courier.
Chang lost only four points on his serve in the first set and played like a human backboard as Courier found no angles for winning shots.
At set point, Chang chased down a Courier lob, then flicked an underhand winner with his back to the net to take the set 6-3. A despairing Courier could only raise his arms in admiration.
The trend continued in the second set, Chang holding his serve at love until the sixth game when Courier finally won three points before Chang held for 3-3.
Courier's sole break against Chang served only to compensate for dropping his own serve the game before and even the score at 4-4. Chang quickly broke Courier again at love for 5-4 and served out the win 6-4 with a forehand crosscourt winner.
"Things just seemed to go really well tonight," Chang said. "I'm pretty focused and everything just seemed to really flow. I didn't let anything distract me."
"Tonight was just his night and he was sharp when he needed to be," said Courier, who came to Washington off Davis Cup singles and doubles victories last week against Belgium.
"I was fatigued mentally here," Courier said. "He was a little sharper, I think, and I left a little bit in the bag tonight. You know it's a tough match if you're not putting a dent in his serve."
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