It was the fourth round of the 1989 French Open. A 17-year-old Michael Chang was up against world No 1 and three-time Roland Garros champion Ivan Lendl. Chang had battled a two-set deficit and painful cramps to force a decider. He somehow managed to break Lendl’s serve and led 4-3, just two games away from one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. But his will to compete was fading rapidly and he could barely move because of the cramps. That’s when he decided to use a trick the world had never seen. At 15-30, he brought out the underarm serve. Lendl picked it early and ran in, the ball spun sharply but he managed to get the return across. Chang moved to his right and whipped a forehand, the ball clipped the top of the net and Lendl couldn’t return it. Chang won that game and the next one to close out the match. A few days later, he went on to become the youngest male Grand Slam champion in history. A record that stands to date.
Heading into the 1989 French Open, Michael Chang was merely an up-and-coming talent who was known for his incredible speed, anticipation and reflexes. He had no ATP Masters title to his name and his best run at a Grand Slam had come the previous year with a fourth-round appearance at the US Open.
The top contenders for the men’s singles title at Roland Garros 1989 were world No 1 Ivan Lendl, defending champion Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, and Andre Agassi.
Chang had a solid first week in the tournament. He dropped just one set in the first three rounds and even beat Pete Sampras 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in his second match. His next opponent, however, was Lendl. The teenager had done enough to prove his potential and a defeat to the top seed would not be a complete surprise.
But little did anyone know what was to follow. Chang had the momentum and an undying spirit, and the world was treated to one of the most memorable matches at Court Philippe Chatrier.
Lendl dominated the first two sets, moving his young opponent from corner to corner and finding the lines consistently. At 6-4, 6-4, the Czech seemed to be cruising towards the quarter-finals. To make matters worse for Chang, he soon started cramping up as well. For a brief period, he was simply standing upright and hitting with barely any movement.
But the underdog was helped by a strange tactic from Lendl. Instead of searching for angles, using drop shots and making his opponent run as much as possible, Lendl decided to wear down Chang by gently tossing the balls back and making him hit more. That decision backfired spectacularly as Chang’s movement improved gradually and he somehow managed to win the third and fourth sets 6-3, 6-3.
Lendl was clearly frustrated by the time the fifth set began. His serve was all over the place and the crowd was totally into the contest, sensing a sensational upset. Chang, though, was still struggling with fatigue and pain in his leg. He dragged himself around the court and with the help of some uninspiring play by Lendl, Chang got his second service break in the deciding set and led 4-3.
And that’s when we witnessed a moment that fans, and no doubt Lendl, will never forget.
“It (underarm serve) literally only crossed my mind for one or two seconds and that was it,” Chang was quoted as saying by AFP in 2019 . “I felt like I was losing my serve and I was about to lose my serve again. I couldn’t serve my first serves, so I felt like I needed to try something different to try and win points. It was the only time I ever did it, ever in my entire career.”
Chang earned four-set victories in the quarter and semi-finals over Ronald Agenor and Andrei Chesnokov respectively and the young American was just one win away from creating history. And in his way stood Edberg, the third seed and a three-time Major winner.
Chang stormed out of the blocks in the final, winning the first set 6-1. Edberg was struggling to keep pace with the youngster and made a number of errors on his serve and groundstrokes. But the Swede had the champion’s mentality. He gained composure to dictate play with his famous serve-and-volleys and won the next two sets 6-3, 6-4.
Once again, Chang was playing catchup against a player ranked much higher than him. And to make matters worse, he was broken in the first game of the fourth set.
From that point, though, Chang did the exact same thing he did in the fourth round against Lendl – he simply refused to give up. He decided to go on the offensive and stood well inside the baseline while receiving serves. He even approached the net consistently and matched Edberg volley for volley. When put under pressure, he showed a maturity far beyond his years to save multiple break points.
Chang broke Edberg at 5-4 in the fourth set with a couple of thunderous forehand returns, he also broke right back at the start of the fifth, and won six of the last seven games to complete a fairytale triumph.
At 17 years and 110 days, Chang had become the youngest ever male player to win a Grand Slam. He was the first American man to win at Roland Garros since Tony Trabert in 1955. It was to be the first and only Major victory of Chang’s career.
“I’d played Stefan already a few times, so I knew what kind of tough opponent he was,” Chang was quoted as saying by Roland Garros in 2019. “I got off to a great start but he played too good in the second and third sets. I got one break point in the fourth and I think I saved like 10 or 11 break points in that fourth set, that was a huge difference. Then in the fifth set, he got tired. I have a lot of great memories. It’s a special place for me.”