Tennis: Chang shows his character

MICHAEL CHANG was alone and seemingly friendless on the Centre Court at the Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy in the city where he made his name. As a 17-year-old at the French Open in 1989 Chang became the youngest men's singles champion in Grand Slam history, unhinging the imperturbable Ivan Lendl and resisting the flowing Stefan Edberg.

Yesterday, match point down against Cedric Pioline and almost the entire stadium in the quarter- finals of the $2.3m (pounds 1.4m) Paris Indoor event, Chang paused so long before serving that the delay was embarrassing. Hearing whistles from the stands behind him - or perhaps thinking that he heard the sounds - Chang stood and waited for silence.

His first serve was out, causing further noises of anticipation. Chang paused again. He had been in similar situations before. In fact he was match point down against the Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the pre-qualifying tournament, the first time Chang he had to qualify for a competition since 1988 in Charlston. But Chang is no flapper. His second serve to Pioline tempted the Frenchman to take a swing with his backhand. He mi-shit the ball, belting it wide across the court. Chang was safe, 6-6 in a second set tie-break which he went on to win, 8-6, returning Pioline's second serve with a forehand drive. After nearly three hours, Chang emerged triumphant, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4.

The match was already more than two hours old when Chang levelled the contest, and Pioline was showing signs of fatigue from his toils the previous evening against the eager Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt, who had been keen to gain a psychological edge ahead of the next month's Davis Cup final against France in Nice. Pioline had prevailed, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, but the effort took its toll.

Three factors spurred Pioline on: he had lost all but one of his seven previous matches against Chang; he was finally on something of a roll, having lost in the first round of his previous five events coming into Paris; and he was on the fringe qualifying in the race to the ATP Tour Championship in Hanover on 23 November.

The final set followed the pattern of the previous two, with Chang losing serve and immediately fighting back. Pioline broke for 3-1, and the spectators began a premature celebration. The Frenchman promptly double-faulted twice in the next game and netted a backhand volley after Chang returned a second serve. Pioline had one more opportunity to turn the match in his favour, but netted a forehand on the break point.

Chang made the decisive strike against Pioline's serve at 4-4, 30-40, hitting a mighty forehand drive down the line. Pioline pushed him to deuce in the concluding game, only to loft a forehand wide on Chang's third match point.

The game's great little retriever may no longer scare the world's best players, but he can still run, and he never hides.