Chang Refuses To Wilt In Heat American Survives Upset Bid From Unseeded Spadea

Unable to sit for fear of cramping all over his body, Michael Chang paced slowly back and forth like a wounded, tethered animal, his breathing labored and his thoughts disjointed.

“To be honest with you,” he said, “I don’t really know how I was able to win today’s match. I really don’t.”

In truth, neither did most of the U.S. Open crowd or the man on the other side of the net, Vince Spadea, who served for the match in the fourth set Saturday, only to be broken in the game and in spirit by Chang’s indomitable will.

Chang, the ultimate tennis survivor, looked as if he could barely lift his feet between points, yet on and on he scrambled until he wore down Spadea and secured a 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory in 3 hours, 50 minutes of mutual punishment.

In a week at the Open when defending champion Pete Sampras struggled to win a five-setter and 1994 champion Andre Agassi had to fend off a hot player in four sets, Chang had the closest call of all.

Agassi, on a collision course to meet Chang in the semifinals, had an easier match this time in a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) victory over Jan Siemerink.

Third-seeded Thomas Muster romped at night, beating Sergi Bruguera 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. No. 13 Thomas Enqvist also won in straight sets against Pablo Campana. Alex O’Brien, a giant-killer most of the summer, finally lost to David Wheaton, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

Defending women’s champion Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva 6-4, 6-2, No. 3 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Elena Likhovtseva 6-1, 6-0, No. 7 Jana Novotna beat Tami Whitlinger-Jones 6-2, 6-3, and No. 16 Martina Hingis beat Naoko Kijimuta 6-2, 6-2.

Unseeded 15-year-old Anna Kournikova again showed tremendous potential as an aggressive, all-court player in her Grand Slam debut as she upset No. 14 Barbara Paulus 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Kournikova goes up next in the fourth round against Graf.

In heat as fierce as a day in the desert, Chang and Spadea slugged thousands of balls from the baseline in one long rally after another, the momentum of the match shifting with each tiny surge of confidence.

Spadea knew he had the second-seeded Chang beaten in the fourth set, was absolutely certain of it, then saw that certainty evaporate like sweat drops on the court.

“I was in control of the match,” Spadea said. “It’s not like I just kept it close and it just happened to go five sets. It was my match to win.”

Spadea, a 22-year-old ranked No. 69, had lost to Chang twice before and was blanked 6-0 against him in the final set of a match a month ago in Washington. This time he had him all but cooked.

Pouncing confidently on Chang’s second serves all day - Chang converted an atrocious 35 percent of his first serves in the match - Spadea served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set after breaking Chang when he slapped three unforced errors.

This would be the finest moment of Spadea’s career, a chance to beat Chang at his own game and move into the fourth round, with no other seeds in sight until the semifinals. Spadea had been playing loosely and aggressively, going for winners, coming in often to punch volley winners.

Then, just at that moment, nerves and weariness seized Spadea. He choked and Chang charged.

“He raised his level, and I didn’t get too many serves in, didn’t attack, didn’t hit my shots the way I had been to get to that point,” Spadea said, his face flushed and his eyes as sad as if he were holding back tears.

Chang broke Spadea at love, winning the first point on a backhand volley, and taking the second on a backhand long by Spadea. Chang drilled a forehand into the corner for the third point, then put the game away with a backhand volley that clipped the net cord and trickled over. Spadea scurried after it, but could only dump it into the net.

After that big break at love, Chang held at love, then pushed Spadea to love-40 with a crisp backhand crosscourt. Chang had put together 11 straight points, and Spadea looked desperate and defeated. Yet Spadea didn’t give up easily, holding off two match points before yielding on the third with his biggest blunder of the match - a low-percentage drop shot from the baseline that fell flat against the net cord.

Spadea was too good for Chang once more when he broke him to 2-1 in the fifth set, putting it back on serve.

After an exchange of serves to 3-2, Chang managed one more break, when Spadea followed up his sixth ace with a long forehand.

From there, Chang served out the match, though every point seemed exhausting. At 40-0 in the final game, Spadea stabbed a backhand volley, and Chang fell flat on his belly trying to switch directions to go for it. He lay there a moment, his soaking shirt leaving a wet spot on the court, then got up and put the match away with a backhand pass. With that last shot, Chang turned his head skyward in sheer relief.