Michael Chang

Michael Chang first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who set numerous "youngest-ever" records. He won his first national title, the USTA Junior Hard Court singles, at the age of 12. His early teens were spent setting record after record including the Fiesta Bowl, US Open and semifinals in Scottsdale, Arizona. Chang also won his first top-level singles title in San Francisco at age 16, and he became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open at age 15.

Chang's most significant youngest-ever record came in 1989 when he won the French Open at the age of 17 years old, becoming the youngest male player ever to win a Grand Slam title. His victory is equally remembered for an epic five-set encounter with Ivan Lendl in the fourth round. Chang became the first American man to win the French Open since 1955, and the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 1984. In August 1989, Chang became the youngest player to be ranked in the world's top 5. He then defeated Lendl again in a 4-hour, 42-minute match at the Grand Slam Cup in 1991.

Chang was a key member of the US team which won the Davis Cup in 1990. In the semifinals in Austria, his dramatic comeback from two sets down against Horst Skoff led the US into its first Davis Cup final since 1984. Chang went on to defeat Darren Cahill in straight sets, as the US defeated Australia in the final. He was also on the US team which won the World Team Cup in 1993. His best performance in the year-end singles championship came in 1995 when he defeated Muster and Jim Courier and then dominated Pete Sampras in the semifinals before losing in the final to Boris Becker.

Chang represented the US in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, reaching the second round before being eliminated by Jaime Oncins. Chang also participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was eliminated in the first round. He is also recognized for his match against McEnroe and for being the first player to be beaten by Roger Federer in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

Chang retired from the professional tour in 2003. During his career, he won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles, including seven Masters titles and his career-high singles ranking was world no. 2 in 1996, a position he held following his US Open finals performance. He was a year-end top-ten player for six consecutive years in the 1990s (1992–1997), a feat matched in the decade only by Pete Sampras. He is one of the few players to win ATP titles in three different decades. His three Indian Wells Masters titles were an ATP record that stood for 15 years before being eclipsed by Roger Federer in 2012.

Since retiring from the top-level game, Chang has joined Jim Courier's senior tour, which began on March 10, 2006, in Naples, Florida. In 2008, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and he has coached Kei Nishikori since 2014. Post-retirement, Chang and his family established CMCB Enterprises, which has real estate holdings including shopping malls, in California, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.

Chang served as Chairman of ATP Tour Charities in 1994. He has supported grassroots tennis development in Asia through his Stars of the Future program in Hong Kong and the Reebok Challenge across Asia. He was one of five athletes named in the second annual "Most Caring Athlete" list by USA Today Weekend in 1995. In 1997, he was given one of seven Asian-American leadership awards by A Magazine for his status as a role model for Asian-American youth. He has also served as a national spokesman for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in the US. Chang also served as a goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympic bid committee.

In 2002, Chang published a book about his career, "Holding Serve: Persevering On and Off the Court."