1. Michael Te-pei Chang was born on February 22,1972 and is an American former professional tennis player and coach.
44 Facts About Michael Chang
1. 2.
Michael Chang was ranked world No 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1996.
3.
Michael Chang won a total of 34 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including seven Masters titles, and was a three-time major runner-up.
4.
Michael Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008.
5.
Michael Te-Pei Chang was born to Joe and Betty Chang on February 22,1972, in Hoboken, New Jersey.
6.
Michael Chang's parents had emigrated to the United States from Taiwan.
7.
Michael Chang first came to the tennis world's attention at age 12 as an outstanding junior player who set numerous "youngest-ever" records.
8.
In July 1987, at the age of 15, Michael Chang won another USTA Junior Hard Court singles, beating Pete Sampras in the final, and a month later, in Kalamazoo, he won America's most prestigious junior event, the United States Nationals U18s tournament, beating Jim Courier in the final.
9.
On 1 September 1987, at age 15, Michael Chang became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open when he defeated Paul McNamee in four sets in the first round.
10.
Michael Chang thus became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984.
11.
Michael Chang's 1989 French Open tournament performance is equally remembered for an epic fourth-round encounter with Ivan Lendl, who was then the world's No 1-ranked player, was the reigning Australian Open champion, and was a three-time former French Open champion.
12.
In 1988, Michael Chang had been easily beaten by Lendl in an exhibition match held in Des Moines, Iowa.
13.
Michael Chang later said that he felt "an unbelievable conviction in my heart" not to give up, and decided to finish the match.
14.
Michael Chang adopted some unusual tactics in an attempt to overcome his cramps.
15.
The success of these tactics caused Lendl to lose his rhythm and prompted him to swear at the umpire and the crowd, especially after losing a key point in the fifth set when Michael Chang shocked him by delivering an under-arm serve.
16.
On match point, Michael Chang stood just behind the service line while waiting to receive Lendl's second serve.
17.
Michael Chang subsequently defeated Ronald Agenor in the quarter-final and Andrei Chesnokov in the semi-final.
18.
Michael Chang has frequently noted the impact of the massacre when recalling his French Open victory:.
19.
Michael Chang became the first American man to win the French Open since Tony Trabert in 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984.
20.
Michael Chang reached three further Grand Slam finals after his 1989 French Open triumph, losing the 1995 French Open final to Thomas Muster, the 1996 Australian Open final to Boris Becker, and the 1996 US Open final to Pete Sampras.
21.
Michael Chang was the first player to be beaten by Roger Federer in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the 2000 Australian Open.
22.
Michael Chang was the second player to be beaten by Andy Roddick in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, in the second round of the French Open in 2001.
23.
Michael Chang was introduced to tennis by his father Joe, who was his first coach.
24.
For much of his professional career, he was coached by his older brother Carl Michael Chang, who played in several doubles tournaments with him in the early 1990s.
25.
Michael Chang was a year-end top-ten player for six consecutive years in the 1990s, a feat matched in the decade only by Pete Sampras.
26.
Michael Chang is one of a few players to win ATP titles in three different decades.
27.
Michael Chang's three Indian Wells Masters titles was an ATP record which stood for 15 years, before being eclipsed by Roger Federer in 2012.
28.
Michael Chang was a key member of the US team which won the Davis Cup in 1990.
29.
Michael Chang went on to defeat Darren Cahill in straight sets, as the US defeated Australia in the final.
30.
Michael Chang was on the US team which won the World Team Cup in 1993.
31.
Michael Chang represented the US in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, reaching the second round before being eliminated by Jaime Oncins.
32.
Michael Chang chose to skip the 1996 Summer Olympics despite the fact that the event was held in Atlanta and that he would have been the tournament's number-one seed.
33.
Michael Chang participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was eliminated in the first round by Sebastien Lareau.
34.
Michael Chang signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Reebok in 1988; he wore Reebok apparel and Reebok Court Victory Pumps shoes during his tennis career and used Prince rackets on court.
35.
Michael Chang started using the Prince "Precision Michael Chang Graphite" 28-inch signature racket in 1994, which was an inch longer than the standard model.
36.
Michael Chang served as Chairman of ATP Tour Charities in 1994.
37.
Michael Chang has supported grassroots tennis development in Asia through his Stars of the Future program in Hong Kong and the Reebok Challenge across Asia.
38.
Michael Chang was one of five athletes named in the second annual "Most Caring Athlete" list by USA Today Weekend in 1995.
39.
Michael Chang has served as a national spokesman for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in the US.
40.
In 2001, Michael Chang served as a goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympic bid committee.
41.
Michael Chang is an avid fisherman, and often took fishing trips while traveling for tournaments.
42.
In 2002, Michael Chang published a book about his career entitled Holding Serve: Persevering On and Off the Court.
43.
Michael Chang attended the master's in ministry program at Biola University in La Mirada, California, for a year and a half.
44.
On October 18,2008, Michael Chang married Amber Liu, a professional tennis player.