US OPEN

September 2, 1999

Michael Chang

Q. What made a difference today between you and Arnaud? Concentration, speed, or....

MICHAEL CHANG: I think Arnaud played some good tennis today, you know, he served well and was able to scramble some good shots today. I had some opportunities and, you know, wasn't able to convert, and, you know, I was unable to convert on almost all his chances. That was pretty much the pretty big difference there.

MICHAEL CHANG: I always feel like I -- I think whenever there's, you know, a match where you're hitting a lot of balls, I always feel like I'm always in the match. It's not something where you are really getting overpowered or blown off the court by aces and stuff like that. So, you know, I always feel like I'm -- there's always an opportunity of being able to work the point and get yourself back into the match. You know, I didn't really feel like, you know, I was really, really out of it until really the match was over.

MICHAEL CHANG: I feel like it's still there. You know, I feel like it's still there. Whether that is something that, you know, people see on the court or not is, you know, it's hard for me to really say. But I feel like, you know, the determination and the fight is still there, just haven't been able to win as many matches as I did three or four years ago. So, yeah.

MICHAEL CHANG: How old is Arnaud?

MICHAEL CHANG: 21. I think it's true, to a certain degree. Obviously, you know, size-wise and game-wise, I think there are some similarities. I don't think I was able to, you know, have quite as much pace on my first serve as he has. He's consistently in the 120s, but, you know, I think overall there are definitely some similarities there.

MICHAEL CHANG: I think some of those points were probably -- turned out to be key points. I had had some chances where I came in on some good shots and he came up with some good passing shots. Yeah, I think that those are opportunities that are missed. I think if I'm able to win those points, I think the third set could very well be mine and then from there it's a whole new ball game. But, yeah, I mean, you know, he came up with some pretty good shots today.

MICHAEL CHANG: I don't have anything planned really until Asia. I'm going to take the next few weeks off and just spend some time at home and rest up and relax a little bit, do a little bit of fishing and get ready for the rest of the fall.

MICHAEL CHANG: Shanghai, in Singapore.

MICHAEL CHANG: In Shanghai I am.

MICHAEL CHANG: Well, to be honest with you, I don't feel like there's, you know, any more of a -- I don't really look at things as being setbacks anymore. I just try to build on, you know, what I can build on and I had some good results this summer. Obviously, you know, I would have liked to have a better Open. But comparatively, for the rest of the year, you know, probably my best results really came during the summer. So in that regard, there's a positive light there. So all I can hope for is that things will get better from here on out.

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