2nd Slam eludes Chang

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

To hear the Henderson resident tell it, he's content to bide his time and wait patiently for the drought to break.

"I'm not so concerned about winning the next Grand Slam title," he said today. "I do hope that it is in the near future, but it's not something that I'm constantly thinking about.

"So long as I'm making progress and heading in the right direction, then I know opportunities are going to come."

Chang has come close three times since his triumph in the French Open in 1989 at age 17.

He was runner-up in both the Australian and U.S. Open last year and was the losing finalist in the 1995 French Open.

Chang is taking a quiet approach at this year's Australian Open, where he beat U.S. Davis Cup teammate Richey Reneberg 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the third round.

It was Chang's second straight-set victory at the National Tennis Center, and was impressive in its economy.

"I feel like I'm getting there, but I don't feel like I'm quite there yet," he said. "There are always things to improve upon."

Chang didn't feel the victory was as emphatic as the score indicated.

"You have to go out and beat Richey because he's not a player that's going to beat himself," Chang said. "We've always had tough matches, and I don't think today's was any exception."

While Chang is trying to keep his campaign as low key as possible, he did dispute two line calls with uncharacteristic vehemence.

"When you feel a call has gone against you, you have to say something," he said. "You have to let the umpire know."

The 25-year-old, the No. 2 seed at the Open, next faces rising British star Tim Henman, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Frenchman Guillaume Raoux.

Chang and Henman never have met, but the American knows of Henman's growing reputation.

"Obviously, he's been playing some great tennis and was coming on pretty strong last year," Chang said. "I know my shots are going to have to be pretty precise, but I'm looking forward to it."

In women's action today, Steffi Graf, ranked No. 1 in the world, fell behind 2-5 before saving four set points and charging to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Latvia's Larisa Neiland.

Graf said that getting heated up over a line call helped pump her up as she won nine games in a row, taking her to a 4-0 lead in the second set.

Graf was spraying shots at the start, and Neiland "hit some incredible shots."

"I just really needed a while to find my rhythm and she didn't give me a lot of rallies in the beginning to get into the match. She came in, and you don't have that often in an opponent anymore," Graf said.

Neiland had one set point against Graf's serve at 5-2 in the first set and three more at 5-4, but two winners by Graf and two errors by Neiland wiped them all out.

Graf said she felt sharper after disputing a ruling that a potentially game-winning shot at 5-5 went wide.

"I really felt I needed something to push myself a little bit, to kind of -- not really wake up -- but to get a bit more on my toes and to get a bit more alert," said Graf, who is seeking her 22nd Grand Slam title.

Meanwhile, No. 7 seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden beat Australia's Richard Fromberg 6-4, 6-4, 7-5; No. 9 seed Marcelo Rios of Chile eased past American Michael Joyce 6-0, 6-4, 6-2; and No. 14 Felix Mantilla of Spain beat Fernando Meligeni of Brazil 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Ukraine's Andrei Medvedev outlasted No. 15 Michael Stich of Germany, the 1991 Wimbledon champion, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 in a 3 1/2 -hour match that lasted until 12:45 a.m. Two errors, a double fault and a perfect Medvedev lob cost Stich the key service break in the final set's 15th game.

In other women's matches, Japan's 5-foot-2 Rika Hiraki, ranked 86th in the world, scored a 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over 10th-seeded Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, who stands one foot taller and has one of the biggest serves in women's tennis.

France's Mary Pierce, the 1995 champion, marked her 22nd birthday by beating Ukraine's Natalia Medvedeva 6-2, 6-2.

No. 3 seed Conchita Martinez of Spain beat Adriana Gersi of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (8-6); No. 7 Lindsay Davenport defeated Italy's Flora Perfetti 6-2, 7-5; No. 12 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa ousted Germany's Jana Kandarr 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); and No. 16 Sabine Appelmans of Belgium beat American Ann Grossman 6-4, 6-1.

Winding up with the longest set in Australian Open history, Australians Wayne Arthur and Jon Ireland beat Italy's Cristian Brandi and Filippo Messorita 6-3, 3-6, 29-27 in the first round of doubles.