Michael Chang and the Other 20th Anniversary in June
As June 4th draws nearer, many will be looking back twenty years and observing China’s most shameful memory — the government massacre in Tiananmen Square that left hundreds dead. But what many forget, including myself until recently, is that just a week after that bloody Sunday in Beijing, a 17 year-old kid in Paris made a different kind of history for China. That kid was Michael Chang, who defeated Stefan Edberg in a five-set French Open final to became first-ever tennis player of Chinese heritage to win a grand slam title, his first and only. Moreover, Chang became the youngest player ever to capture a Slam, a distinction he still holds today. While Chang was born in New Jersey and is, in fact, American, he has always been a major source of pride in the Chinese tennis world. He was arguably the most popular tennis star in America for a brief period, but his French Open win made him the most popular player in China for well over a decade. The Los Angeles Times did a cool little feature on Chang today that reveals that Chang is married (to a girl 12 years younger I found out on Wikipedia), breeds tropical fish and has a two handicap in golf. But Chang also discusses the role the Tiananmen Square event played in is 1989 French Open victory:
A lot of people forget that Tiananmen Square was going on. The crackdown that happened was on the middle Sunday at the French Open, so if I was not practicing or playing a match, I was glued to the television, watching the events unfold… I often tell people I think it was God’s purpose for me to be able to win the French Open the way it was won because I was able to put a smile on Chinese people’s faces around the world at a time when there wasn’t much to smile about.
I wasn’t old enough to understand Tiananmen Square when it happened, though I do remember my father telling me about it. However, I vividly remember Michael Chang winning the French — an 8-year-old sports nut cares much more about these things. Sadly, Chang’s remarkable achievement won’t be what comes to mind when we think of June, 1989.
UNDERHAND SERVE
You missed the most important detail of Michael Chang’s French Open Chanmpionship. In a match against Ivan Lendl the, then untouchable #1 rated player in the world, Chang who was cramping up in the unbelievable 5 set match, served underhand on one key point and Lendl missed the shot and was psychologically a wreck. Pretty ballsy for a 17 year old.