Thomas Enqvist discovered one of the more bizarre ways to beat one of the world's best players.
Drop the first set in six straight games, then win the next two sets while shutting out the opposition in the last."I'll have to remember his strategy the next time I play him," Michael Chang, the defending champion, said Sunday after losing 0-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the finals of the U.S. Indoor.
Chang, the third seed and No. 6 player in the world, won the first six games, then lost five in a row. He won four straight before losing the final seven to the 20-year-old Swede.
Enqvist earned his fourth tournament title and $110,000. He knocked off No. 2 Andre Agassi in a three-set semifinal to win his first career match against a top 10 player. He celebrated Agassi's first loss of 1995 by hitting a ball into the rafters.
When his cross-court forehand skipped past Chang at match point Sunday, Enqvist raised his arms in triumph. For the first time all week - a week in which he blasted 64 aces - a smile appeared on his stoic face.
"I didn't expect to win the tournament," Enqvist said.
Especially after Chang won the opening set in 23 minutes. Until Enqvist held to open the second set, Chang had taken 23 of 26 games since trailing 5-3 in the second set against Jonathan Stark in the quarterfinals. The game proved pivotal.
"I felt sorry for the crowd after the first set. I wanted to do better in the second," Enqvist said. "I started to hit the ball further and push him back. I played unbelievable, I think."
Chang had three break points. Enqvist responded with three straight aces between 115 mph and 118 mph to hold serve 1-0. He then broke Chang twice and took a 5-0 lead. But Chang responded with two breaks of his own only to drop serve in the 12th game and lose the set.
"I should have put a lot more pressure on him," Chang said. "I think it was a combination of Thomas raising his level of play and me losing that little bit of concentration" after being up 6-0.
The quietly confident Enqvist has now won two tournaments this year and 16 of 18 matches. His only losses are to top-ranked Pete Sampras at Memphis, Tenn., and to Jim Courier at the Australian Hardcourts. Enqvist triumphed at the New Zealand Open last month.
He is coming off a year in which he underwent surgery on both knees and missed 18 weeks on the tour. His rise comes at a down time for Swedish tennis. For the first time since October 1982, no Swede is in the top 10.
But when the ATP's rankings come out Monday, Enqvist will be 24th - with a bullet.