Rios Takes Chang to Fifth Set, Finds He’s Playing With Fire

NEW YORK — Thursday night’s U.S. Open quarterfinal match between Michael Chang and Marcelo Rios of Chile figured to present a fire-and-ice kind of scenario. What no one could have guessed was that the fiery player would be the restrained and unobtrusive Chang.

Chang called on every shred of his patented tenacity to defeat the 10th-seeded Rios, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, in a sizzling night match before a loud, at times unruly, crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

At the end of the 2-hour 58-minute match Chang exulted in an unlikely manner, pumping his fists, throwing his head back and screaming, and--as he sat with a towel draped over his head--tears.

Such public displays of emotion are rare, but Chang has played himself into rare territory. The victory places the second-seeded Chang in an excellent position to take the men’s title: The field contains no former Open champions and only one other seeded player.

Chang, the only player left who has won a Grand Slam title, will play Patrick Rafter of Australia in Saturday’s semifinal. Rafter, seeded No. 13, defeated Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2.

“It was a fight,” Chang said. “I’ve always had tough matches against Rios. He’s always been a tough competitor. I thought I played very well, then things started turning around. I would have thought that Marcelo, after the first two sets, would have started getting frustrated. He hung tough.”

Chang defeated Rios in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, but Rios has improved since then. His performance Thursday night did much to rehabilitate his tattered reputation as a highly talented but weak-willed player. The left-hander has gained more attention for his long hair and short fuse, but controlled everything but Chang on Thursday night.

Rios’ early match strategy was not fruitful. He insisted on rushing the net, even after repeated passing shots whizzed past him. He abandoned that to a great degree after the second set and waited for wiser, safer moments to present themselves.

Rios, 21, was subdued after losing the first set and all but capitulated after losing the second. His shots were either lackadaisical or reckless. It has been a familiar scenario for the emotional player, but the third set changed that.

Rios was up two breaks and serving for the third set and double-faulted to lose the game. He had a set point with Chang serving at 3-5 but Chang sent a serve down the T that might have been wide but wasn’t called so. He hung in and converted on his second set point in the next game to take the set--his first ever from Chang.

He opened the fourth set with a service break and began to wield his forehand like a stinging rapier. Twenty-two of his 29 winners came from the forehand side.

Rios gained another break and served out the set to bring on the inevitable in a Chang match--a fifth set. Rios had won his last seven five-set matches, but Chang owns the territory. He played a tight five-set match against Cedric Pioline in the fourth round.

Chang got the set’s only break in a tense eighth game and needed three break points to convert. The crowd roared, chanted and did the wave.

Chang served for the match with a cold wind whipping around him and fended off two break points.

In the earlier match, Rafter, 24, came back strongly after a grueling four-set match against Andre Agassi that finished at 1 a.m. Wednesday. Rafter was awake an additional five hours that morning, combating muscle cramps.

He reported fresh and ready for Thursday’s match against the tall, lumbering Larsson. Just as the night match featured two baseliners, the day match put the big-serving Swede against the serve-and-volley specialist.

Larsson served more effectively but Rafter was the superior player from anywhere on the court. Rafter’s subtle improvement has been noted by most players on the tour.

Larsson had not lost a set going into the match and did not happily surrender the first set, losing the tiebreaker, 4-7.