Chang and Carlsen to Finish Suspended Match on Saturday

By Fred Sidhu

Calabasas, Ca. – Top-seeded Michael Chang led sixth-seeded Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 7-6 (5), 1-5 when their quarterfinal match at the USTA Challenger of Calabasas was suspended due to darkness.

The match will be completed at noon (Pacific time) at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Club.

Chang and Carlsen exchanged service breaks early in the first set and eventually went to a tiebreaker.  

In the tiebreak, Carlsen double faulted at 5-5 and Chang hit a service winner  on the next point to secure the first set.

In the second set, Carlsen broke Chang twice to take a 5-1 lead before the match was suspended.  

The winner  will  advance to the semifinals to face unseeded Justin Gimelstob, who defeated third-seeded, Noam Okun of Israel, 6-4, 6-4.

Carlsen and Chang are certainly no strangers to each other. This is the tenth time they have played.  

Chang won eight of the nine previous meetings. They first played in Hong Kong in 1993 as Chang defeated Carlsen 7-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Carlsen’s only victory over Chang came in 1995 at New Haven when Carlsen won, 7-5, 6-4.  

In their most recent meeting before Calabasas, Chang defeated Carlsen 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Boston in 1998.

In other quarterfinal matches, fifth-seeded Cecil Mamiit eliminated second-seeded Vince Spadea, 6-4, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (8) in two-hours and 49-minutes and Germany’s Bjorn Phau defeated Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

General admission is $10 on Saturday and $12 on Sunday. Children under 18 will be admitted for $5 each day. For ticket information, call (818) 222-2782. 

Saturday’s matches and Sunday’s final begin at noon.

The USTA Challenger of Calabasas is a $50,000 Challenger event. The tournament is part of the United States Tennis Association Professional Circuit.