Chang hails bright future for Asian tennis

The Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open has a rich history. Past champions at the ATP 250 include former No. 1s in the PIF ATP Rankings Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Jim Courier.

However, it is another American who holds the record for the most titles at the tournament. Michael Chang lifted the trophy three times in Hong Kong, in 1994, 1995 and 1997, and racked up 32 match wins overall at the event. The former World No. 2 returned to the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium this week to reminisce and look ahead during a fruitful period for Asian tennis.

"I'm excited they brought tennis back to Hong Kong. I think that it was gone for too long," said Chang, referring to the event's absence from the Tour between 2003 and 2023. "It's encouraging that the field that you see this week is great evidence of how excited the players are to come back. It's been a lot of hard work from the staff to bring this event back to such an iconic place.

"It's great. Obviously, I've got a lot of fun memories here, not only playing, but also just being here for various reasons, whether it was some speaking engagements, whether it was doing commercials for shampoos, or are you even just coming here to visit."

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Asian tennis is booming, with Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen spearheading five Chinese women in the WTA Top 100. In the PIF ATP Rankings, there are three men in the Top 100, with Shang Juncheng and Buyunchaokete competing in Hong Kong this week.

"You're seeing the fruit of much labour with academies, better training, more international coaches coming into China and the Asian region," said Chang. "We've seen over these past 10, 15 years how much tennis has changed in China, not only from an aspect of popularity but you look at the venues that they have now. They're all world-class venues and hosting some of the biggest tennis events in the world.

"Over a period of time when young kids are exposed to a sport growing as much as tennis has been growing, and then also gaining a lot of confidence from great champions such as Li Na, it was really only a matter of time before Chinese players were not only playing out on Tour, but doing well, making an impact."

Chang expects Asian tennis to keep growing, and to keep influencing the tennis narrative on the global stage.

"I think the future is very bright,” said Chang. “I expect this year to be even better than last year, because each of the wins that these guys are getting, they're just going to continue to build their confidence and you never know, things can progress in a very, very short period of time."

At Roland Garros in 1989, Chang made history by becoming the youngest man to win a Grand Slam singles crown at 17 years old. Shang (19), Buyunchaokete (22) and Hong Kong's leading light Coleman Wong (20) are all grappling with the demands of elite tennis with youth on their side.

"I think it's really a matter of just coming in every day, trying to get better. There's still lots of areas to improve upon and each opportunity they have to learn from some of the best players in the world, playing more and more Grand Slams, playing against more and more Top 10 players, they're just going to continue to get better and better," suggested Chang.

"I think it's actually quite exciting for them to come and play in places where they're really going to have the home crowd behind them. I know that was huge for me here in Hong Kong. I'm not born or raised here, but coming from Chinese descent, my support here was off the charts. It was so much fun to play, and I think when you're in a place that people are really cheering for you, it just spurs you on to play some of your best tennis."

Chang's Hall of Fame career saw him capture 32 titles and feature in four Grand Slam finals. In a coaching capacity, the 52-year-old then worked with Kei Nishikori from 2014 for a decade, helping the Japanese talisman reach a career-high World No. 4

Nishikori is playing in Hong Kong this week, eager to erase several seasons hampered by injuries. On Wednesday, he defeated third seed Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter-finals.

"He's hitting the ball very clean, moving very well and playing some excellent tennis," said Chang of Nishikori. "From somebody who is a former coach of his, a friend, we very much see Kei as extended family, I'm really excited for Kei, this week here in Hong Kong and for the rest of the year. I've always said a healthy Kei Nishikori is a very dangerous Kei Nishikori.

"I don't doubt that if he continues to play like he's playing now, I think the Top 50, that's a piece of cake for him. I think people need to look much higher than that."

Chang also has a theory as to why American tennis hasn’t landed a men's singles major champion since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. "I think there are four explanations. Explanation one is (Roger) Federer, explanation two is (Novak) Djokovic, number three is (Rafael) Nadal and another one is (Andy) Murray," said Chang with a chuckle. "Mix in (Stan) Wawrinka as well.

"If you think about it from the history of tennis, what those guys have done, it's been absolutely mindboggling, it's been incredible. We always pay attention to the Grand Slams which they won, but go back and see how many semi-finals or better Roger did in consecutive seasons. it's crazy how good these guys are.

"I do think that American tennis is looking pretty positive. We now have more guys in the Top 100 than we've had in a very, very long time. Taylor (Fritz) getting to the final of a US Open is a great confidence booster and we're having a little bit of a changing of the guard, with (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz really taking the reins.

"You never know, we have the talent to be able to beat and challenge the best players in the world, they just have to do it on the grandest stages now."

Story republished with the permission of hkmenstennisopen.com