TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN : Chang Almost Turns Back the Clock

PARIS —  The magic of Michael Chang momentarily reappeared early Saturday evening on the stage where he left tennis fans spellbound in 1989.

The former French Open champion nearly overcame a two-set deficit to Jaime Yzaga of Peru, but faltered at the finish to lose, 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5, in the third round of the French Open.

No. 9-seeded Todd Martin of Lansing, Mich., joined No. 8 Chang as an upset victim at Roland Garros Stadium, losing to Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3. Five of the day’s eight third-round matches went five sets.

That left No. 5 Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia as the lower bracket’s only remaining seeded player. He advanced to a fourth-round match against Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy with a strong comeback of his own, dropping the first two sets before defeating Alex Corretja of Spain, 6-7 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

“(There’s) no respect for seeded players anymore in this sport, so it is more (of an) advantage to be not seeded,” Ivanisevic said.

Five years ago, Chang, then 17, enchanted clay-court fans with a gritty performance that has come to characterize his game. Despite cramping, he returned the ball any way he could to beat Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg in five sets each en route to his only Grand Slam tournament victory. He is 16-7 in five-set matches and has won six times after losing the first two sets.

After dropping only one set in his first two matches here this year, Chang came out flat against Yzaga, who had reached the third round here twice. And Yzaga looked as if he would win in straight sets when he took a 2-0 lead in the third set.

But not against Chang, not at Roland Garros.

Breaking back, Chang saw an opportunity. Between the third and fourth sets, Yzaga lost his serve 10 consecutive times.

“I have been in these kinds of situations before, and sometimes I am able to get through them,” Chang said. “A lot of times, little things can really change a match.”

Yzaga was aware of Chang’s reputation, and after losing the third set, realized this one was going five. “I was saving for the fifth,” he said of his letdown.

The match tightened when the error-prone opponents raised their games. Their shots started hitting the lines, and rallies took longer in a tactical matchup. Chang saved three break points to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth set. But Yzaga, who reached the fourth round of the 1985 U.S. Open in his first major tournament, saved a break point to tie the score, 3-3.

Then Chang faltered at an inopportune time. He lost his serve after his first double fault of the day made it 40-40. When Yzaga went ahead, 5-3, Chang was asked to perform one more trick.

He said later he was suffering from a sore back and could not put much on his first serve. But the reason for his problem sounded as creative as his game.

“I was sleeping on soft beds,” he said.

Still, Chang won his serve in four points, then broke Yzaga when the Peruvian hit a backhand wide. The scenario could not have been better for Chang.

All he needed to do was hold his serve to at least force a tiebreaker. But he fell behind 0-30, then made a nice forehand half volley and a serve and volley to make it 30-30.

On the next exchange, he raced to his right toward Yzaga’s drop volley but slipped and crashed headfirst into a stand next to the net judge. He was slow in getting up, and had to wipe away the red dirt caked to his legs after he did.

Chang lost the next point, and the opportunity slipped away.

Now Yzaga was in fine shape. Serving for the match for the second time, he reached his first match point at 40-30, after 4 hours 20 minutes.

Chang handled his serve, but Yzaga kept him off balance during the rally. When he hit a powerful backhand deep down the line, Chang was late reaching it. He mis-hit the ball, which sailed two feet wide and almost through the outstretched hands of Yzaga, who was already celebrating.