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Japanese version

Published by Nihon Bunka Shappan
Written by Kimiko Date
Translated by Kumiko Watanabe

July 15, 1991: "Chang and I played mixed doubles matches."

After Wimbledon, I participated in Gunze World Tennis. Because this tournament an exhibition, it was different from the tournaments which granted ranking points depending on the results. All the players relaxed, we enjoyed playing tennis. Now I'm going to talk about "what happened in the Gunze World Tennis".

On the first day of the tournament, I had a mixed doubles match. My partner was Michael Chang (correctly speaking, his name is Chang, not Chan). Because my coach had introduced him to me before, we greeted each other when we met at tournaments, but playing tennis with him, especially mixed doubles, of course it was the first time for me. The first time I learned that he would be my partner, I thought, "Gee!" Before the first match, I became very tense. In regards to him, he is a top-ranked player in the world. I couldn't help but think what I shall do if I bothered him. In the player's lounge, Michael, his brother, Nana Miyagi, and I enjoyed playing cards. Michael took the cards out and said, "Let's play SHICHINARABE."

[Kumiko: I'm sorry I don't know the name of the game in English.--First, share all the cards to the players, then put four "7" cards on the table. The first player can put "6" or "8" next to the "7" cards.....Can you guess what do you call it in English?]
[Yuan-Kwan: Unfortunately, I don't know either but it is an awesome game. You have to place the cards according to suits and the object of the game is to have the least amount of points.]

As the time passed, my tension was raised. I became more tense than my singles matches, I didn't know what to do. But after the match began, Michael took my feelings into consideration, and helped me to play at ease very well, I could enjoy playing tennis.

On the court, Michael asked "Would you like to do signal-play?" I answered "Yes," and we decided to use 5 kinds of signals. 1) wide (cross corner) 2) center 3) body....these 3 methods of serve and 4) go to poach or 5) not. This was a very general signal-play, but it was useful, because it was the first time for me to play mixed doubles with him. And he gave me many detailed instructions during the matches. For example, Patrick McEnroe (USA) has a good backhand, 70-80% of his backhand returns go crosscourt. Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) has a weak point in front of his body, so serve toward his body. Jim Courier's services kick very high, so when you return, you must watch the ball through and through. That's typical of Michael Chang [to dissect playing styles in that manner]. But I thought it over, Michael is still only 19 years old. Even though I'm one year older than him. How could he keep such perfect composure? During the matches, I followed his instructions; said "Yes....Yes.....". It was beneath my dignity, wasn't it?

During this exhibition tournament, many top-ranked players may have tanked in their play [to save energy for the singles matches]. In this case, Michael is a survivor in singles, as he Michael played very hard [in doubles], led me very well. Thanks to him, we could be finalists. But during his stay in Osaka for two days, Michael's schedule was too hard, he could put only a 30 min. break between his singles match and doubles match. Michael, at the final, seemed to be very tired, though Michael as he was. He lost that match, but I fully admire his calmness, kindness, and that footwork(!!).Great!

By the way, before the singles match, I saw Michael hanging around the passage way. The tournament staff and Nana (Miyagi) and I were talking then as he passed by. The staff asked him, "Where do you want to go?" Michael seemed to want to go the restroom, but there were only Japanese-style restrooms in the locker room. He said he did not know how to use them. There were some Western-style restrooms on the other floors, but it was unwise to use them, because those were for the audience.......I said, "But there must be a Western-style restroom in the locker room." Michael looked embarrassed and hesitated, and said "[Jim] Courier went in and didn't come out." Although he still wanted to go to the restroom, we all asked many questions, so he looked shy and said, "That'll do," and he twitched his face and went into the lockerroom. At that time, Michael's face was different from his face on the court; he looked like an ordinary 19-year-old boy, I felt at ease, somewhat.

June 10, 1992: During the French Open

When I went to a Chinese restaurant with Mr. Hayakawa to have dinner, we met Michael Chang's father, who was buying mountainous rice and dishes to take back to the hotel room. Michael's brother, Carl Chang was in the hotel lobby. I asked him, "Do you always eat take-out meals in your room?" He answered that if they ate out of the hotel, people would approach them and they wouldn't be able to stay calm. So they ate in the hotel room. He said, "Kimiko, when you eat out in Japan, people must tease you for your autograph, too." It would not be true for me. The top-ranked players live hard days, eh?

(Little did Kimiko know that she would become a big star!!!)

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