Exactly two decades after he stunned the tennis world at Roland Garros by becoming the youngest men's grand slam champion, Michael Chang is still raising eyebrows whenever he travels in China.
'Young players look at me and ask: 'Are you really Michael Chang?' There's still this misconception you have to be big and physically strong to play tennis, but then they see I'm no taller than they are,' he said.
Approaching the 20th anniversary of his victory in the 1989 French Open final over Stefan Edberg when he was 17, Chang spent this week in Shanghai, appearing as a special guest on the popular youth TV show, The Prince of Tennis. The American-born Chang plays a tennis coach in the second season of the 20-part series on Dong Fang Wei Shi (Dragon TV), which will be aired in August.
'I can speak Mandarin here and there, but it's too difficult to memorise all those lines in Chinese so I talk in English and they dub it over,' he said. 'It's been fun ... a little nerve-racking at times, but when I mess up people have been really patient with me.'
During his latest trip to China, the 37-year-old Chang reflected on the legacy left by his one grand slam singles victory. His unlikely path to glory saw him twice come from behind in five-setters, defeating world number one Ivan Lendl in the fourth round and third seed Edberg in the final.
The way the diminutive teenager overcame cramps and served underarm to upset three-time champion Lendl - a comparative giant of the game both literally and figuratively - became part of sporting folklore and inspired a generation of Asian athletes and fans.