Chang Hooks Title Against Chesnokov

INDIAN WELLS —  Michael Chang, a part-time fisherman who spends hours on Lake Mead, landed a big one Sunday.

Chang finished a weeklong junket, navigating through the $1-million Newsweek Champions Cup, bagging Andrei Chesnokov and $137,500 and matching his best top-10 ranking in more than two years.

All in all, it amounted to a fairly rewarding workweek for Chang, who beat the sore-ribbed Russian, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, in the championshp at Hyatt Grand Champions.

Chang leaped from No. 15 to No. 9 in the rankings as a result, and luck played no small part.

On his way to his seventh title, Chang did not face a seeded player and beat an injured player in the final. None of this mattered to Chang.

“I’ll take it,” he said.

He required 2 hours 18 minutes to dispose of Chesnokov, who played despite a painful pulled muscle in his ribs, sustained in the swimming pool Thursday.

Chesnokov said he hurt himself doing the backstroke after his third-round upset of top-seeded Jim Courier.

“Something cracked in my body,” Chesnokov said. “And I didn’t even expect.”

All that anyone could have expected was a lengthy match, but the idea of a five-set baseline duel when down the drain when Chesnokov re-injured his ribs stretching for a wide shot to his backhand late in the first set.

During an injury timeout, Chesnokov’s ribs were sprayed with freezing agent ethyl chloride and wrapped in tape. He thought about quitting, but played on anyway.

Chang said he was momentarily flustered.

“I was trying to get it out of my head that he was hurt,” Chang said. “I wanted to close it out as fast as I could. When it got to the third set, I didn’t want it to slip away.”

Chesnokov refused to go away. He had trouble breathing, so he peeled off the tape, but then he had problems holding leads. He went up a break in the second set and lost it. Then he went up a break in the third set and lost it, too.

On the third match point, Chang saw a second serve, crushed the return and knocked a volley into the corner, from where Chesnokov fluttered a forehand into the net.

Chesnokov first refused to discuss the effects of his sore ribs, then spoke at length on the subject.

“Inside, my ribs something,” he said. “I still can play tennis with my injury. That is the reason I don’t want to talk about my injury . . . but anyway, I play good game with injury.”

Chesnokov, whose quirky quotes make him one of the more popular players on the tour, said surgeons are planning to operate on him, then put him back together with glue. He had a little trouble keeping a straight face, though.

Afterward, Chang headed for the airport to catch a flight to Florida. Chesnokov was also busy, posing for pictures with Kirk Douglas and Lloyd Bridges.

Chesnokov was clearly popular, even in defeat. He concluded his remarks on the court after receiving his runner-up check for $72,380 by saying: “Also, I want to say, thank you, crowd.”

Chang’s game may not be overpowering, but it still continues to impress. Even so, it could get better, he said, listing the perfect composite. “I’d keep my mind, I’d get Stich’s second serve, I’d get Edberg’s first volley, second volley, I’d get Cash’s overhead, I’d get Lendl’s chip, Stich’s backhand down the line, Pete’s (Sampras) inside-out forehand and half-volley, I’d take Boris’ first serve and I’d take Jimmy Connors hitting a great shot, that part.”

It seemed he asked for everything but Chesnokov’s ribs.

Tennis Notes

Andrei Chesnokov moved from No. 36 to No. 19 in the rankings. . . . Michael Chang on his tennis mentality: “Hit where the guy’s not there.” . . . Steve DeVries, a former California star, and Australian David MacPherson defeated Kent Kinnerar and Sven Salumaa in the doubles final, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. In their other five tournaments together, they had four first-round defeats and a second-round defeat. DeVries had never won a doubles title before. . . . For the record: Chang said the Lake Mead mark for striped bass is 58 pounds. And his best there? “Three and a half pounds,” Chang said.