The Year Two 17 Year Olds Ruled The French Open

In 1989, both the Singles events at Roland Garros experienced tremendous upsets. In the men's event, a seventeen year old Asian American, Michael Chang, triumphed after several dramatic matches. Meanwhile, the seventeen year old Spanish player, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, had a huge victory.

These two players had similar styles of playing; defensive baseliners who fought to the bitter end.

In the men's event, the 15th seeded player Michael Chang had an eventful five set thriller against the world number one, Ivan Lendl. Ivan was leading 2 sets to love when Chang started to make a huge comeback. The match was exhausting and Chang experienced cramp. He resorted to underhand serves, which totally shocked Lendl.

Chang won in five sets and in a very memorable and emotional match. He faced Stefan Edberg in the final, who he won in an exhausting final. Michael Chang overcame the most powerful baseliners of the era in a truly great match and proceeded to beat one of the best serve volleyers of all time. This was truly a French Open to remember.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario had no significant wins prior to the final. However, in the final she faced the world number one, Steffi Graf, who had totally dominated the game. Few of the top players could evenm challenge Graf, she had only lost one match all year. However, Arantxa played defensive and consistent tennis to grind out a three set victory.

Image courtesy of James M Phelps from flickr.com