Michael Chang: Outstanding Athlete

Chang at 1994 Thriftway Championships
-James Marvin Phelps-Flickr

With all the “Linsanity,” nowadays, people often forget Michael Chang, an Asian American who achieved success in sports years before Lin.

Chang was born February 22, 1972 in Hoboken, New Jersey to Chinese parents. His father, Joe, had fled China’s Communist regime and came to America in 1966, where he met and married Chang’s mother, Betty. As a child, Chang’s older brother Carl taught him to play tennis and Chang worked intensively to hone his skills. He participated in and won numerous youth championships, setting several “youngest-ever” records.

In the year 1988, at the age of 16, Chang turned pro. About a year later, at just 17 years old, he won the French Open, becoming the first American to win it in 34 years. He also became the youngest male to win a Grand Slam.

Chang, at 5’8” and 135 pounds, because of his stature, was often told he couldn’t excel in tennis, but he went on to defeat opponents larger than him, using his perseverance and speed on the court. At the French Open, he defeated top ranked Ivan Lendl and went on to beat third ranked Stefan Edberg.

Later in his career, Chang continued to maintain his high level of success. He played in three more Grand Slam finals and won the Davis Cup. Throughout the ‘90s, he remained in the top 10 of the ATP world rankings, even reaching as high as number two. He retired in 2003, and in 2008, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Chang believes that Asian Americans should play in more sports, and shake off the stereotypes that have been attributed to them. He acknowledges, though, that they will face some resentment "You're going to have a little bit of racism," Chang said "Unfortunately it's to be expected. Sometimes people put things up that they might find humorous. It's difficult sometimes when you have somebody who is of a different culture trying to make light of something that is maybe not quite something that they understand."

Overall, Chang, an unparalleled tennis player, is a paragon of Chinese American athletic excellence.