Chang turns back clock

Tennis: Simon O'Hagan weighs up prospects for an intriguing battle in today's men's final

MICHAEL CHANG warmed up for the French Open by having a few hits on the Roland Garros courts with Pete Sampras.As contemporaries - both are 23 - the two go back a long way, to the days when they were up-and- coming teenagers on the American junior circuit.

Matches between them were often won by Chang and in the race to be top prodigy it was Chang who came out ahead, becoming the youngest winner of a Grand Slam event when he won here in 1989 at the age of 17 years and three months, more than a year before Sampras became the youngest winner of the US Open at 19 years and one month. But from then on, it all changed; as Sampras rose serenely ever upwards, so the game seemed to pass Chang by.

For now, at least, the clock has been turned back. While a troubled Sampras, beaten in the first round here after a disastrous clay-court season, is trying to pull himself together for Wimbledon, Chang today returns to the scene of his greatest triumph when he meets Thomas Muster, of Austria, in the final of the French Open. A monumental match is in prospect; the irrepressible Chang, scurrying, chasing and retrieving causes which are never lost, against the indestructible Muster, a supreme clay-courter unbeaten on the surface this year whose relentless style has led one opponent to compare him with one of those action movie heroes who keeps coming at you no matter how many times you knock him over.

Both men possess extraordinary depths of determination, making up for, in Muster's case, a relative lack of talent when compared with an Andre Agassi or a Sampras, and in Chang's for his small physique. Yet the two are similar in a less expected way; both go into the match appearing to be emotionally neutral about the outcome.

"Nothing is really going to change my life too much winning or losing," the 27-year-old Muster said. "It's just tennis. It's just a game." For the devoutly Christian Chang, "it's not so important to worry about winning a Grand Slam . . . because you need to take the time to go out and make the most of the talent God's given me."

Chang's win here six years ago had begun to look even more of a freak with the passing of time. In the 20 Grand Slam tournaments he subsequently played up to and including this year's Australian Open, the best he managed was a solitary semi-final in the US Open of 1992. And until this year, his form at the French, the tournament which should in theory give him his best chance, has been thoroughly indifferent - beaten twice in the quarter-finals, twice in the third round and once in the second.

So what is different this year? "Well, I think I've learned a lot," Chang says. "The game has changed in certain ways and I have to make certain adjustments . . . on clay you need to be a little bit more patient. In an age when big men have come to dominate the game, Chang's achievement in not merely hanging on in there but in continuing to outwit more powerful opponents is remarkable.

At 5ft 9in and 10st10lb, Chang is not much bigger than some ball boys, yet his speed around the court and the precision of his shot-making have kept him in contention.

Among the adjustments he has made is one of a very quantifiable kind to his racket.The standard racket length is 27 inches (the legal maximum is 32) but since the start of last year Chang has used a 28in racket which has given him greater leverage and thus greater power, especially on his serve. This area of his game has improved markedly and could help him spring a surprise this afternoon when, according to Carl Chang, Michael's brother and coach, "he may try a bit of serve and volley" in trying to beat Muster for the first time at his fourth attempt.

Beating Muster from the back of the court looks almost impossible. But the Changs will have noticed how, in his semi- final against Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov - two sets down - tried running in behind his serve and had some success.

Science has played its part in Muster's development, too. He does bio- mechanical tests in which electrodes are attached to his body and a high- speed camera films him hitting the ball so that it is possible to examine in minute detail exactly how his energy is expended. "It's fantastic," Muster says. "I love to explore these possibilities."

But like Chang, Muster knows that matters of the spirit are beyond the reach of the lab technician and the racket designer and that is where today's match will surely be decided.

Final analysis: How the rivals shape up

27 Age 23

Leibnitz, Austria Birthplace Hoboken, New Jersey

Monte Carlo Residence Henderson, Nevada

5'11" Height 5'9"

11st 11lb Weight 10st 10lb

$877,693 1995 prize money $387,230

$4,598,282 Career prize money $9,560,570

0 Grand slam titles 1 (French, 1989)

5 World ranking 6

Fitness, aggression Strengths Speed, concentration

Serve, volley Weaknesses Serve, defensiveness

Painting Off-court activities Fishing