Michael's News: April 1999

TOURNAMENT NEWS: Michael bowed out in the second round of all three tournaments he entered this month: the Japan Open in Tokyo, the Salem Open in Hong Kong, and the AT&T Challenge in Atlanta. For the first time in eons, Carl was NOT in Hong Kong with Michael, and there was a simple reason: Diana was eight months pregnant with a baby girl due to arrive by the end of May. Instead, Jerry, Michael's parents, and agent Tom Ross joined Michael in Hong Kong.
On Sunday the 4th, Michael went to Sha Tin (Northern Territory of Hong Kong) for a children's clinic, and later went to Victoria Park for the Salem Open opening ceremony where he also signed autographs. Thanks to Bonnie Tse and Haily Ho for most of this info.

TENNIS MAGAZINE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF MICHAEL: There is a HILARIOUS article in the April issue of Tennis Magazine which details a travel journalist's account of trying to locate Michael in his new hometown, Seattle. In "City of Clouds," Jeff Wise tries to locate Michael while strolling through the Coffee Capital. While he didn't meet him face-to-face, he did learn that Michael practices at the Seattle Tennis Club on Lake Washington prior to the spring European claycourt season. During the rest of the year, Michael spends the majority of his practice time in the suburbs, dividing his time between two clubs: the Pro Sports Club in Bellevue and the Mercer Island Tennis Club (from which Michael lives a quick five minutes).
While Jeff was unsuccessful in his efforts to find Michael, he did speak to him via telephone about Seattle, and Michael said the following: "Seattle's been great. We [MC, Carl, and Diana] moved here in January '98. I've made lots of friends and found a great church [reportedly Cornerstone, which Michael first visited the year before]. It's such a picturesque place. You get all four seasons. It's a great place to fish. I've been fishing in Lake Washington, mostly for smallmouth bass and perch, and in Puget Sound for salmon....And the tennis scene here is pretty darn good. I have to book courts way in advance."
When Jeff speculated that, surely, the clubs make room for him, Michael laughed. "No, really! I try to get a court at 10 a.m., and they say 'Well, there's a court available at 6 a.m.' That's not tennis time; that' fishing time!" Jeff went on to write, "I wish Chang well, and then let him get back to buffing his collection of mounted trophy fish. Though I'd failed to catch him in action, his enthusiasm set my mind at ease. Chang has the stature, and the love of Seattle, to put the city's sporting scene on the map. The only question is: Will that sport be tennis or fishing?"

News & pictures from this month's tournaments:
Apr. 28: PICTURE: Michael at the Newsweek Cup (this was posted in an article covering the AT&T)
Apr. 26: PICTURE: Atlanta, First round
Apr. 14: Sent crashing
Apr. 14: PICTURE: Japan Open second round, Chang v. Knippschild
Apr. 13: PICTURE: Chang's fans
Apr. 13: PICTURE: Japan Open first round, Chang v. Hill
Apr. 13: Touch and go
Apr. 8: PICTURE: Chang vs. Dreekman
Apr. 6: Breezing ahead
Apr. 5: Agassi muscles in on Chang's fan base

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Michael's News: April 1999