Michael Chang was ahead of his time in many ways.

The five-foot-nine Chang became the youngest Grand Slam men's singles champion when he won the 1989 Roland Garros title at the age of 17 years and 3 months and ended a 34-year drought for American men in Paris.  Playing the starring role in tennis' David vs. Goliath saga staged on the red clay of Roland Garros, against Ivan Lendl, Chang fought off crippling cramps and a powerful opponent with a memorable underhanded serve, he now describes as the stone that helped slay Goliath. In a stunning upset, Chang beat Lendl 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 then proceeded to overcome a derisive French crowd and a determined Stefan Edberg in the final with a historic 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory that made him the youngest Grand Slam champion at 17 years, three months. The counter-puncher had knocked out champions with an inspiring series of victories.

Chang believes he was empowered by a higher power at a time when violence was and says he feels his French Open victory was a symbol of hope at a tumultuous
time in China when violence was erupting in Tiananmen Square culminating in the horrific Tiananmen Square massacre.

"I think what made those two weeks magical was not just the fact that I won it at 17, but even more so knowing that God's purpose for allowing me to win the French was not so much for me, but was more so for the fact that He wanted to bring a smile upon Chinese peoples' faces during a time when there wasn't a lot to smile about," Chang said. "Obviously, the situation in Tiananmen Square was going on and it was a very down time for Chinese people all over the world. I know that that's the reason for God allowing me to win."

In a career spanning 16 years, Chang reached a career high world ranking of No. 2 and was ranked in the World Top 10 for seven years. He captured 34 singles titles while also reaching 24 tournament finals. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday and prior to his induction speech Chang met with the media for this question and answer session: 

Question: Did you understand the importance of winning the French Open when you won it at age 17?

Michael Chang: "At the time it happened, probably not. I think when you're 17 years old you're playing Grand Slam tournaments, you aren't thinking 'If I win this, I will be the youngest Grand Slam champion ever.' I think that when you're that young, you are really just enjoying the time and trying to get settled a bit. The one thing that was nice about '89, I had a very good experience the year before playing in '88 and probably one of the toughest matches that I played in my career was against John (McEnroe) in 1988. I lost to him pretty bad, but it was actually the first time I had every played against someone that I had actually watched growing up. So, the following year, when I came in to 1989 to play against the likes of Lendl and some of the other players, really, by that time, it was really second nature. Just kind of going out and playing the best tennis I could. I don't think it really sunk in until a couple of months after it took place, what exactly had happened and obviously to be here the reason I am here is because of the '89 French."

Question: How does it feel to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

Michael Chang: "It is an incredible feeling. I think being here, this is my first time at the Hall of Fame, and going through the museum yesterday, to see the rich history and to see some of the, not only the pictures and footage of all the matches, it is pretty incredible. Never in my wildest dreams did me or my family, think I would ever get to this stage. I think my parents, growing up, knew that Carl and I both loved the sport of tennis and I think for them, if anything, it would be great if we could get a college scholarship. Never in our wildest dreams did we envision playing on the tour, winning the Grand Slam title and certainly being here."

Question: You beat Horst Skoff to clinch the USA's 3-2 victory over Austria in the 1990 Davis Cup semifinals. What do you recall about that match?

Michael Chang: "It was interesting because we were actually up 2-1 after the second day. After Jim Pugh and Rick Leach won the doubles and I was pretty confident that Andre (Agassi) was going to beat Thomas (Muster). I was almost certain that I was not going to need to play, that my match didn't count. Andre goes and he loses the first set and I was thinking 'that's okay, he'll come back.' He lost the second set and I was pretty confident that he was going to come out and win that match and then he lost in three straight and then all of a sudden, boom I'm there on stage and it was a tough, tough match to play against Horst Skoff and I could not get the stinkin' ball to his backhand side. He just ran around everything and I lost the first two sets, play suspended because of darkness. I had gone back and made a call to Carl who was at Cal-Berkley at the time and I said 'Carl, I need a little help here because I am having trouble getting it to Skoff's backhand. I know it is the weaker shot, everyone knows it is the weaker shot, but he keeps running around it. Did you by chance see the match?' ESPN hadn't televised it yet and it is a delayed broadcast. He said, 'Tell you what: I will watch the match tonight and call you in the morning. So he went and he watched the match and he called me up first thing in the morning and he told me exactly what I needed to do. I changed up some things, completely changed strategy and the fourth and fifth sets were a lore more comfortable, but it was still very, very nerve-wracking. It was kind of odd because I played two sets that day, but at the end of the second set because of the tension and because of the coolness of the day, I was actually cramping, just from the nerves. It was obviously a great moment for me and the team since the U.S. had not won the Davis Cup for quite some time. I was very saddened because just a few weeks ago, Horst Skoff passed away. So, it was a reminder about how short life really is and how much you need to cherish a lot of memories and the people close to you."

Question: Did winning the French Open so young change your approach or view of tennis?

Michael Chang: "No, actually not because as far as the love of the game, that has always been there. I think that when an opportunity like the French Open comes around, regardless of where it comes around in your career, you try to take advantage of it. Certainly it would have been nice to have won another Grand Slam, particularly the match against Pete at the (1996) U.S. Open. because if I had won the match, I would have been number one as well, but I am often reminded of what my mom told me when I was young and early in my career: 'You go out there and you can train your hardest and you can give your 100 percent best and that is all you can really give. You are going to win some matches and you are going to lose some matches, but as long as you have given it your 100 percent best, you can walk off the court with your head held high.' I had opportunities to win other Grand Slam titles and it just didn't happen for me, but I can say that I gave it my all and as far as playing in the U.S., which is something I love to do along with playing in Asia, I think I have won almost every big tournament in the United States except for the U.S. Open. For me and my family it was never something we imagined that I would be a Grand Slam champion. For where I am and where the Lord has brought us though, we are very grateful and thankful."

Question: What is your favorite surface?

Michael Chang: "I actually prefer a medium pace hard court which is what I grew up playing on in Southern California. Strangely, most of my tournament victories have come on that surface or something similar to it. Grand Slam-wise, I probably have done better at the French. I was trained very well by Jose Higueras. For us, players growing up in the United States, especially growing up in California, we don't have to really know how to play on clay. It's a new surface for us and we just don't have a lot of experience on that in comparison to some of the Europeans and some of the South Americans. For me, and Jim Courier would probably agree with me, to be taught how to play on a surface you grew up not knowing how to play on, it was different, but it suited my game very well. It forces you to track down a lot of balls and used movement, fluidity, spin and being patient in playing chess-like tennis. Once I was able to go about playing on the surface it became a lot easier to do that."

Question: What was your least favorite surface?Michael Chang: "Unfortunately, probably grass. I can't say that I don't really like playing on grass because I do, but it is a very difficult surface for baseliners and the footing is unsure. For guys that serve and volley: Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, they don't really have to adjust to a whole lot of things on grass because if you serve-volley, you never let the ball bounce so you don't have to worry about that except on returns. For us baseliners, although I know the Wimbledon ball is bouncing a lot higher now than when I played in the peak of my career. I think Newport, here in Rhode Island, is a lot more truer to what Wimbledon used to be. You don't see guys serving and volleying that much at Wimbledon anymore which is interesting.

Question: How would you describe your style?

Michael Chang: "I don't know if I would necessarily label myself as a defensive type of player. I think it is a combination of more counter-punching. Sometimes you are forced to play defensive tennis. If someone throws a 140 mph serve at you, you can't say that 'Okay, I'm going to whack this one for a winner.' So sometimes you are forced to play defensive tennis. Some guys that are always coming at you, I think it depends on the surface. It depends on the conditions. I think my game will always be based on playing a lot of smart tennis. I'm not the biggest guy out there, I don't hit the hardest, but I try to position myself so that I can exploit weaknesses and take advantage of my strengths. Being very patient, very consistent, not making a lot of errors, not beating myself, but when I do have opportunities to try to attack because most players will tell you that the best way to beat an attacking player is to put them on the defensive. When you are able to do that they end up playing a game they aren't comfortable with or not used to playing. It is obviously easier to do that on a slower surface or a medium paced surface. On a faster court, like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, it is a lot more difficult to do that...My best showing at Wimbledon was the quarterfinals and I lost that to Pete. But even better, to my credit, I actually have a win over Roger Federer on grass. He probably doesn't remember that, but if I see him I will vividly remind him of that."

Question: You're coaching now, did you scout opponents when you played?

Michael Chang: "To be honest with you it is probably something that I probably could have done a little bit more. I have coached over the last year and a half, I have done more scouting, and a lot more match watching and I think as I have watched more and more tennis, your knowledge of the game becomes even greater. You start to pick up a lot more tendencies of players and patterns. And if I had known that to the degree that I know it now, I probably would have done a little more, which probably would have made me an even better player, being that you are able to exploit weaknesses even better. When it comes down to today's power game, it is still a thinking man's game. There are always ways to neutralize power. There are always ways to improve your own game. I kept a very detailed strategy book on pretty much everyone that I played. If I had won a match, then I jotted down why I won the match, what worked, what didn't work. If that player chose to play me the same way, 95 percent of the time I would beat them. If they changed things up, if I had lost a match, I would jot down the reason why I lost and I would never play that same player the same way that I had lost. It just didn't make sense to me. I would try new tactics, new ways, until I found a way that was successful. I had to play tennis that way. It was something that my size and stature didn't allow me to play other tupes of games that other players could play and I had to use whatever I had and the ability to move and quickness as an asset in addition to the strategy involved in going out and playing some of the big guns."

Question: How does the current generation of American players compare to your generation?

Michael Chang: "Hey, we're Davis Cup champions. That is always a plus. I have to say that this generation of players, Andy and James, they have done very, very well. I think that in any other time, in comparison, they would be up there as far as playing some unbelievable tennis. I think that any generation that follows our generation, it is going to be tough to compare. You have Pete, Jim, myself, Andre Agassi and then you throw in the mix guys like Todd Martin, David Wheaton, Mal Washington. That is a tough generation to follow. You have a lot of Grand Slam titles, you have a lot of junior titles there. You have a lot of history, a lot of character, a lot of charisma and it will be tough to follow. By all means Andy and James have had wonderful careers and they are heading in the right direction but to add to that, to compete with the likes of Nadal and Federer, it is tough. You take any one of those guys out of the mix and how many championships would Andy or James have? It is a tough comparison and a tough act to follow."

Question: Will you play the senior tour?

Michael Chang: "I played once on Jim Courier's tour. I am actually planning on playing maybe a little bit later on this year. The first time I played on Jim's tour, I had a really bad injury and I was out for 15 months. I have kept in contact with Jim. Jim would constantly call me and ask me how I was doing and when I would be ready to come back. It has been a little bit of time, about two and a half years since that injury and I have been playing a fair amount of tennis and I am ready to get back out on the courts. I actually won't be back here next month (at the senior event in Newport). I didn't want to make my first tournament back on grass just because the footing was a little bit unsure. My injury was a ruptured Achilles tendon, a complete rupture, when I played in Naples."

Question: What do you do spend your time on now?

Michael Chang: "I am doing a lot of stuff with our Chang Family Foundation. Still doing a lot of ministry work through that. Still doing some speaking engagements, being able to encourage young people in their walk and their life. That has been taking up a lot of my time. I did spend a lot of time coaching last year and, like I said, I am going to play a little bit later on this year, but my schedule still continues to be very, very busy...A little bit of fishing, a little bit of golf, but tennis will always be my number one spot for as long as I am here."