ATLANTA -- Fourth-seeded Michael Chang
defeated Italian Davide Sanguinetti 7-5, 6-3 on Monday night in
the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Challenge to run his
record to 15-3 in this tournament.
Chang, the champion here in 1994 and 1995, never lost his
serve. He squandered two set points against Sanguinetti's serve
in the first set but won every break point thereafter,
including two against his own serve.
"I missed my first two chances, but I did well to correct
the rest, and those were pretty key," Chang said.
Chang, who stands 38th in the ATP Tour's points race, is
11-6 so far this year but has not beaten a player in the top 25
of the ATP Entry System.
Chang says he is working on his footwork and movement to
regain the superior court coverage that made him a perennial
top-five player throughout most of the 1990s.
"It was fair to say that movement-wise, I was struggling a
little bit," Chang said of the past two years, as he slipped
from second-ranked in the world. "I was one or two steps
slower, and I'm working to get that back."
Also advancing Monday were Australians Andrew Ilie,
eighth-seeded, and Jason Stoltenberg, a two-time runner-up
here. Ilie beat Czech Tomas Zib 6-4, 6-2 and Stoltenberg
defeated Swede Fredrik Jonsson 6-1, 6-1.
Top-seeded Andre Agassi plays his first round match Tuesday
against qualifier Xavier Malisse.
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