Hard times continue for Michael Chang. Even the support of his large fan base in Hong Kong was not enough to lift the gloom which descended upon his shoulders when he was dumped out of the Salem Open yesterday.
Chang lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Germany's Hendrik Dreekmann. He is in a rut. And he admits that it is hard to climb out.
'Obviously my results recently have shown that it is getting harder to win. I just have to keep plugging away and hope the results start coming,' said Chang.
The three-time winner of this tournament - in 1994, '95 and '97 - began strongly as he tucked away the first set. But Dreekmann was in no mood to roll over.
He sped to a 5-3 lead, saw Chang level the score at 5-5, but then kept his nerve to break Chang in the 12th game and level the set score at 1-1.
Chang's game went to pieces in the decisive set. He mis-hit his groundstrokes, sliced his volleys and generally made a total mess of it all.
'I failed to play the big points well. One point here and one point there can make a huge difference. It really hurt me, how I played today,' said a crushed Chang who came to Hong Kong seeking self-belief and confidence to boost his flagging career.
