ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 18, 1993

Michael Chang

MICHAEL CHANG: Yeah, I had first come over in '89 and had a little bit -- I was missing out a little bit, and last couple of years, I think that I have made pretty good progress to get back on the top 10 and get back in the top 8. I think that is a good sign. I think that when I am able to have consistent play throughout the year and to come here and to play well, come up a little bit short means you got to work a little bit harder, get a little bit stronger and come back next year a better player, and that is really about it. Just keep striving for bigger and better things.

MICHAEL CHANG: I think it was a little bit of a lapse. I think today was a little bit different. I think Andre was really - I think I was in pretty good control throughout the whole match. I think from then on out, Andre was just smacking everything, just going for everything, and things started to fall in, and I think from there I started to play a little bit more tentative, and wasn't attacking him as well, and you know, wasn't making the most of my opportunities because I was really doing well for the first set and a half. I think it was pretty much, you know, one-sided from there, and I think I backed off a little bit and against Andre, if you back up a little bit and your ball starts sitting a little bit, he is able to take advantage of that, and, you know, he is not going to miss as much and he is going to hit more winners. That is really what happened today, so --

MICHAEL CHANG: I think Andre has a very good future. He has a very good game for all surfaces. I think when he first came on tour people regarded him, more or less, just as a clay court player, and I think that he has proven that he is able to play on some of the faster surfaces and took him a little bit of time, but I think he is getting used to it. He knows that a few adjustments that he has to make, and I think that if he works on a few more things, I think he can really establish himself as a Top 10 player, and you can only go higher. We will have to wait and see how he does and how he handles certain things. When you progress as a teenager and on the tour, I think that the pressures start mounting coming from different directions and stuff that -- and that plays a part in your tennis career results-wise; that will be important to see how Andre handles that. If he handles it well, he can only get better.

MICHAEL CHANG: I don't believe in luck. I think there is a reason for everything and a purpose for everything, and, you know, I have been in similar situations, and I have gotten out of it, and so there is a plan for everything. God has his plan, and today I felt a little bit short, and Andre was able to take advantage of that and hang tough, which is really what he did today. Yeah, so I don't think it was lucky. I don't believe in that.

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, I think every tournament is a challenge for me; reason being, is that I think to a point, especially the tournaments that tend to favor serve and volleyers as the bigger players, I found that those are a much greater challenge for me than some of the other events. I feel that, you know, when I come into a tournament like that, people kind of, in a sense, you know, don't give me the chant type-of-thing, to go out and to do well or to actually win a tournament like that, and, you know, I think that that creates, in me, a willingness to go out and work harder and to do well in those particular events. That is one of the reasons why if given the choice of any Grand Slam, that I would want to win, would be Wimbledon because of that challenge; because of that, that feeling that serve and volleyers, big players dominate. I am the type of person that you know, like the David and Goliath type of story, where I like to be-- I like to be able to come out on top to be a little guy, that is why one of the reasons why I was for Ivander Holyfield (Phonetic) in the fight with Riddick Bo (PH), so I think that still little guys-- you can't count out the little guy, by all means, especially you know, especially when he knows who is in control, so.

MICHAEL CHANG: No, I don't think that Ivander won that fight because of the parachutist. I think that you know, he knew where his strength was coming from and I know where my strength is coming from and that is very, very important to both of us because both of us are very devote Christians and it gives me more willingness to go out and to fight. I think there is a reason why I am 5 foot 9 and the rest of the field is over six feet. There is a reason for that, and there are a few times where I am going to fall, but I just got to keep my head up and keep getting up and if I fall down again just keep getting up. You know, that -- everything is going to be fine, basically. I know that I head in the right direction and know that I have to keep trying to improve; not get discouraged; not just kind of just quit because guys are bigger, because they can hit harder or whatever. That is the challenge. Life is no fun if you can't live up to those challenges. If you don't have challenges, what is there to constantly try to improve or try to achieve? It is through those challenges, through those goals that you place for yourself that you become better; become better as a person, for me as a player, you know, for you guys as reporters, and, you know, doing your job that you progress in your life as well.

MICHAEL CHANG: How tall are you?

MICHAEL CHANG: I am 5' 9", at least, with shoes.

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, it must have been a pretty good book up to the point of 5-3, I guess. I am not -- Jim was in a little bit of a weird mood last night, I think. You know, every now and then everybody gets in those moods. Why he brought out the book, I don't know. Either it was a really good book. I know that Jim reads also before his matches, just to try to calm himself down; other players listen to soft music. Other players listen to hard rock music. Everybody has their little way of relaxing and getting your mind off things, and coming out here and playing in Frankfurt it can be very tense. Not just because of the opponent on the other side of the court, but also because of the crowd and the circumstances and you know, a lot of outside things involved, so I think that when you are doing things-- when you are having your own routine, it helps to put things in proper perspective.

MICHAEL CHANG: No, because I think it is very easy sometimes in that situation to get sidetracked in what you are doing. For me, I found that throughout my whole career and junior career and the whole thing, I found that I felt that there was always something that I needed to concentrate on and changeovers. Those were the times where I really gave myself a lot of time to think, because other than that, in between the points, you have got like 25 seconds, 30 seconds; if you are not tallying off and adjusting your strings or doing something or getting ready, you don't have time to think about what you need to do - if you need to play a certain player a particular way to his forehand or backhand or whatever, those are the times that you can collect your thoughts about what he is doing right; what you are doing right; what he is doing wrong and what you are doing wrong. And know what you need to do out there in order to come out on top.

MICHAEL CHANG: He seems okay to me. I am not that close to him on a personal basis. So you know, he seems okay to me. I mean, all the players are pretty much having breakfast there and he is talking with everybody and everyone is talking together and he seems pretty okay. I know he has been struggling the last couple of months, but normally toward the end of the year it is-- sometimes could be a little bit exhausting, and Jim has really done well early part of the year, so he knows that this one pretty much is his last tournament. I do not think he has entered the Grand Slam Cup, so he knows that this is it.

MICHAEL CHANG: 'till the upcoming Australian Open, and you know, everybody handles it differently, so --

MICHAEL CHANG: Okay.