Talking about tennis, still remember Michael Chang from USA, who won the French Open in 1989. Still remember the match? The famous match with World No. 1, reigning Australian Open champion, and three-time former French Open champion Ivan Lendl.
Michael Te-Pei Chang (張德培); born February 22, 1972, in Hoboken, New Jersey) is a former American professional tennis player. He is best remembered for becoming the youngest-ever male player to win a Grand Slam singles title when he won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17.
Known for his on-court speed and fighting spirit, Chang is considered by many observers to have been one of the best tennis counterpunchers of all time. He remained in the Top 10 of the ATP world rankings for several years in the 1990s, peaking at World No. 2.
Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008
(source: wikipedia)
Michawl Chang is a devout Christian, Chang's faith was first brought to the spotlight after his 1989 French Open championship, when upon winning, declared "I thank the Lord Jesus Christ, because without Him, I am nothing." He attended Biola University in La Mirada, California for 1.5 years for a Masters in Ministry to increase his personal Bible knowledge. He serves on the Biola University Board of Trustees
Chang and his family established the Chang Family Foundation(CFF) in 1999 to evangelize Christianity. The Foundation is now based in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.http://www.mchang.com/cff/news.html
The Michael Chang Mission Hills Tennis Academy (which has 50 courts) opened in 2008 in Shenzhen, where Michael Chang aims to nurture young Chinese players in a bid to bring the level of Chinese tennis up to the international standard. He intends to contribute his experience accumulated from playing in world tournaments to the development of tennis in China. Chang is very popular in China, where he is better known by his Mandarin name Zhang Depei(張德培). Chang, who retired in 2002, has worked as a coach with Peng Shuai in 2007. Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games.
By the way, Chang married Amber Liu(劉安寶), another professional tennis player who is 12 years younger than Chang. A baby girl, Lani Chang was born on 9th December 2010, just before Christmas. Congratulation.
If you want to know more about him and his work after retirement from tennis, please visit his foundation's web site http://www.mchang.com/cff/news.html. He is now actively involved in religion work and spreading Christianity through sport.
Related websites:
1. http://www.mchang.com/
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