Michael Chang overcame Ivan Lendl in a marathon semifinal Saturday at the Grand Slam Cup that revived memories of their French Open confrontation two years ago.
Chang came from two sets down and saved a match point to beat Lendl, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 9-7 in 4 hours, 42 minutes to enter the final of the $6 million event.David Wheaton of the United States beat Wimbledon champion Michael Stich in the other semifinal, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3) despite Stich serving 25 aces.
Wheaton beat Stich in a battle of big servers in a match that lasted more than three hours and ended after midnight local time. Wheaton holds a 2-1 lead over Chang in lifetime meetings.
Stich fell behind 1-5 in the second set before rallying to force the tiebreaker. There were no service breaks in the other two sets.
Chang and Wheaton were the losing semifinalists last year. Chang wasn't ready to give up so easily against Lendl.
"I was in a great position. I had no pressure," the 19-year-old Chang said. "I was two sets down and a match point against me. I don't have any expectations."
"I just think I wanted to go out there and play a good match. I was happy the way everything went."
Chang, playing with a groin injury, salvaged a match point in the 12th game of the fifth set. The tournament, under Grand Slam rules in certain situations, does not go to a tiebreaker in the deciding set. Earlier round matches were best-of-3 sets.
The only other time Chang and Lendl battled over five sets was in the dramatic 1989 fourth-round match at the French Open.