Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

Stoltenberg, Chang win at AT&T

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Tuesday April 27, 1999 12:32 AM

Michael Chang, feeling healthy for the first time in a year, was victorious in a first-round match. Simon Bruty/Allsport

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Michael Chang took a step Monday night toward extending his 11-year streak of winning at least one singles title, the longest currently on the ATP Tour and fourth all-time.

In first-round action at the AT&T Challenge, the fourth-seeded Chang notched a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Gianluca Pozzi of Italy.

"Anytime you've had success somewhere, it's always good to come back," said Chang, who won consecutive AT&T titles in 1994-95. "Atlanta is such a great tennis town, so that makes it even better. The people always come out and give great support."

Second-seeded Jason Stoltenberg took an easy 6-4, 6-1 victory over unseeded Paul Goldstein in an afternoon match at the clay-surfaced Atlanta Athletic Club.

Chang's six-year run of finishing no worse than sixth on the ATP Tour ended when the Hoboken, N.J., native closed 1998 at No. 29. A sprained ligament in his left knee and a left wrist injury plagued Chang for most of the year, but he still managed wins in Boston and Shanghai after getting hurt.

This year, despite a No. 43 ranking, Chang feels in great shape physically, but his results have been sketchy. He has was won eight of 16 matches and has made the semifinals only once -- at San Jose, Calif., in February.

"The best way for me to get better and regain confidence is to play tennis," said Chang, who best play Monday was on second-try return points, getting 30 of 43. "Unfortunately for me, I've either lost early or haven't been really happy with the way I've played."

Stoltenberg, an Australian ranked 32nd, dominated with a strong service game. The 1998 AT&T runner-up won 24 of his 31 first-serve points and took 38 of his 62 total service points. After a relatively close first set, Stoltenberg had Goldstein, a Rockville, Md., resident, down 5-0 in the second set before losing the sixth game at love.

Defending champion Pete Sampras chose not to play the AT&T this year and thus will lose his No. 1 ranking to Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Petr Korda, the top-ranked player from the Czech Republic, continued a frustrating year by losing 7-5, 6-1 to Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay. Korda, who escaped a suspension from the ATP despite testing positive for steroids at Wimbledon last year, won the first game of the second set, but then fell apart.

"I lost the desire to play tennis for a while," said Korda, who has finished in the top 20 of the rankings for six times in the last eight years. "It's still very important to me -- definitely not as important as my family -- but something I definitely want to do well."

Filippini won the AT&T in 1997 -- his only American win and his fifth worldwide -- and has been working to improve his backhand in practice. Against Korda, Filippini was exceptional on saving break points on his serve, winning five of six.

In other first-round matches, Magnus Larsson beat Johan Van Herck 6-3, 6-2, and Juan Antonio Marin took a 6-4, 6-3 win over Luis Horda. Chris Woodruff lost 6-4, 6-4 to Sargis Sargsian, and Mark Woodforde and Lleyton Hewitt were playing a late match Monday night.

 

Related information
Stories
Kafelnikov will get to No. 1 even if he loses Jon Wertheim's Tennis Mailbag: A couple of young hotshots
Multimedia
Click here for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI.