Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Michael Chang's improbable fourth-round win over top seed Ivan Lendl at Roland Garros. When the two men came to Paris in 1989, Lendl was already a seven-time Grand Slam champion; Chang was just 17 years old.
While Chang was seeded a respectable 15th in the tournament, their June 5 contest appeared to be a mismatch on a grand stage. Besides the disparity in titles and experience, Chang's serve was unable to measure up to Lendl's steadier strikes.
The prior year, Lendl and Chang rode together to a hotel after an event in Iowa. Lendl gave the precocious talent some constructive criticism.
"First off, you’ve got no serve," Lendl told Chang. "And you’ve certainly got no second serve. You can’t hurt me. You can run but you better develop a weapon to survive out here."
Chang fell behind two sets, but scrapped his way into a fifth—and then unleashed a weapon, while cramping: an underhanded serve. It remains one the most memorable moments of the four-hour match that Chang won, en route to his only Grand Slam title.
We didn't have to wait for the 2019 French Open, however, to get an homage to Chang's victory. Though for Jared Donaldson, it could have come under better circumstances. Like Chang, Donaldson was cramping in a fifth set against a favored opponent—No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov—and needed to figure out a way to survive. Cue the underhanded serve:
