ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 16, 1993

Michael Chang

MICHAEL CHANG: I am sorry. Who is talking? John.

MICHAEL CHANG: I think probably one of them. Jim and I have had a lot of tough matches and over the past year or so, I think he got the-- he won quite a few more than I did. But I think that tonight everything seemed to go pretty well for me. So it worked out well.

MICHAEL CHANG: It is something -- service has been something Carl and I have been working on over the past couple of years. Try to get a few more free points on my own service games. I think it was to the point where it was just difficult having to work so hard for each point on your own serve and then you play a guy who was able to pop in four aces or four service winners - a little bit frustrating - and, you know, we felt that it was something that, you know, we could do something about. Get a little bit stronger and just spend a little bit more time on it. I think by no means a Goran serve or anything like that, but, you know, I am just trying to continue to work at it 'till it can get better and better.

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, I think that most of the time you try to capitalize whenever you can. Obviously that was a great opportunity for me to get that break and Jim played three good points to get it back to deuce, and I think he got-- you have got to give credit where credit is due and I think that-- especially against a lot of the top players, you are not going to have a whole lot of you -- you try to make the most of any chance or any opening that you might have.

MICHAEL CHANG: Thank you.

MICHAEL CHANG: Be honest with you, I don't remember that the ninth game, I don't know. All I remember is I got the break, that was --

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, I don't think any drastic change. I think that, you know, I tried to continue to play the way that I came in, you know, playing, and you know, I tried to really stay focused on what I needed to do out there and basically what I needed to concentrate on and try not to let anything, you know, distract me or anything to get my mind off the job, and, you know, it worked out well for me. I think the important thing was that after the first set I didn't have any kind of let-down or let-up. I think against guys like Jim or anybody here, you know, you can't let anybody creep back in there. Guys are just too good nowadays and they will take advantage of any opening that they can get. To come back and beat you - and Jim obviously has the capability of doing that, so it was something that I tried to really concentrate on.

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, I still feel that, you know, for me I feel I have still have so many things to improve on in my game that, you know, I feel that, you know, I feel that I can still play better tennis. I still have a lot of room in my game for improvement. There is nothing in my game that is so solid that I can rely on day in, day out to win matches. It is something that I have to keep working at - each part of my game and a lot of the intangibles. You know, sometimes a lot of the shots that, you know, are not ordinary shots often turn out to be some very crucial points. I plan to work on -- by no means should I be satisfied with having one match, having played well in one match, because this is an event where you have got to play a handful of matches and I play some solid tennis in order to come out on top.

MICHAEL CHANG: No, not really. I think that obviously that was a good boost for me. But I have had matches, good example is in L.A., the final in L.A.. I won the first set 6-0 against Richard Krajicek and I might have had that attitude a little bit, after the first set, things are going great; this is my day. And ended up I lost 7-6, 7-6 in the second and third sets without losing my serve, so, I think that-- I think that throughout a match at this level and these matches here, you are going to see a lot of the great shots from both sides and I don't think that, if one shot happened to be a sign of things to come, I think that people would be seeing too many signs, so, you know, by all means, if a point like that was worth 10 points or something, then it is something to talk about, but if it is only worth one point, so, it is the same as if Jim hits an error so to speak. I don't know if you see it my way, but --

MICHAEL CHANG: A little bit. Tom, I think, talked to just about all the players. He came over in Paris and sat down with, I think, just about everybody, and you know, I think he is still a little bit up in the air as far as what surface India is going to choose. But I think he has got a pretty good feel for the players and how they feel on Davis Cup in particular ties, so we will see what he has in store.

MICHAEL CHANG: As far as for India, I told Tom that I would take a pass on India. The reason being is that India most likely will choose grass and my feeling on grass would be the same as a tie with Australia. I think that you have got a couple of players-- a few players still better on grass than me. So maybe in a couple of years time, I will try to improve my grasscourt game and we will see what happens.

MICHAEL CHANG: It feels different. I think that you know for me it is easier to come here. I have no expectations. I have lost six matches here in the finals before. I have everything-- nothing to lose and everything to gain, so by all means, for me, go swing away and concentrate and give your best. I have no outside pressures or anything, no expectations, so it is easier.