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The Battalion
SPORTS
Thursday, June 8,1989 The Battalion
"hang still unbeaten in French Open
merican becomes youngest player ever to reach Open semis
PARIS (AP) — Seventeen-year-
old Californian Michael Chang fol
lowed his stunning upset of Ivan
Lendl with a victory over Ronald
-Agenor Wednesday and reached the
semifinals of the French Open.
Chang, who beat Agenor 6-4, 2-6,
B-4, 7-6, became the youngest player
ever to gain the last four in Paris as
the advanced to a meeting with An
drei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union,
another surprise winner.
Chesnokov eliminated defending
champion Mats Wilander 6-4, 6-0, 7-
5 and became the first Soviet since
Alex Metreveli at Wimbledon in
1973 to reach the semifinals of a
Grand Slam event.
: In Friday’s other semifinal, Boris
Becker will face Stefan Edberg.
| It will be the first time in six years
that the French Open title will go to
someone other than Wilander or
Lendl.
I At 17 years, 3'A months, Chang is
;the youngest male player in 56 years
to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. He
is also seeking to become the first
American to win the French Open in
34 years.
Chang, who fought leg cramps
throughout the fifth set to beat
Lendl in more than 4!/2 hours, said
he had trouble preparing himself
for the Agenor match.
“I was really drained mentally be
cause of all the emotion in the match
against Lendl,” he said.
Chang resorted to some of the
same gamesmanship that flustered
Lendl — and he got some back in re
turn from Agenor.
At break point at 4-4 in the fourth
set, Chang crept up to within a few
feet of the service line in an attempt
to rattle Agenor’s concentration.
When Chang employed the tactic
against Lendl, the Czech double
faulted on match point. On Wednes
day, Agenor also responded with a
double fault and Chang had a 5-4
lead.
“I don’t do it to try to insult any
body or make fun of anybody,”
Chang said. “When you’re in a situa
tion where you’re desperate for the
point, you do anything to bother
concentration.”
Agenor said it worked.
“It’s bothersome,” he said. “It’s a
mental attack. He makes you think.
I’m sure he won’t do it at 2-2 in the
first set. He does it only at crucial
moments. It’s very intelligent and
he’s a very intelligent kid. But I don’t
know if he’ll win the French Open
this way.”
Agenor gave Chang some of his
own medicine in the very next game.
With Chang up 30-0 and two points
from the match, the Haitian
crowded the service line. Chang
didn’t double fault, but he lost the
point and Agenor went on to win the
game to even at 5 -5.
“It was a way of him saying, ‘You
do that to me. I can do that to you,’ ”
Chang said.
“I didn’t really want to do it,” Age
nor said. “The crowd encouraged
me to do it. I just did what I was
told.”
Chesnokov, ranked 27th in the
world, was asked for his formula in
beating Wilander.
“I had good concentration and
lots of patience and I was also a bit
lucky.” he said.
It is the second time that Chesno
kov, 23, beat Wilander as defending
champion in Paris. He beat him in
the third round in 1986.
Wilander, the fourth seed, had
not dropped a set in the tourna
ment. But it was clear from the start
of the match that he was in for a
tough day against Chesnokov.
In uncharacteristic fashion, Wi
lander lost most of the long rallies so
he tried to change the tactics and
move to the net. But time and again,
Chesnokov was in position to crack a
passing shots down the line.
“I was a little bit surprised too,”
Wilander said. “I thought he played
really well. It seemed nothing I did
would bother him. Everything he
did worked and put me in trouble.”
1989 was a banner season for Ags despite
Pistons convinced
defense a key to title
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)
—The Detroit Pistons are con
vinced that defense will carry
them to the NBA championship.
“Our defense is so keyed in, it’s
like trying to break through a
brick wall or climb a barbed wire
fence,” said Dennis Rodman,
whose 10 rebounds Tuesday
night gave him six straight games
in double figures.
The Pistons’ 109-97 victory
gave them a 1-0 lead going into
Thursday night’s Game 2 of the
best-of-7 NBA Finals. It was the
16th consecutive game they al
lowed less than 100 points, in
cluding 14 in the playoffs.
Detroit has allowed an average
of 90.5 points in those 14 games.
The record low for points al
lowed is 94.6 by the 1971 cham
pion Milwaukee Bucks, who gave
up less than 100 points in 10 of 14
playoff games.
The Lakers, averaging 113.5
points while winning their first 11
playoff games, played without
Byron Scott, who was out with a
hamstring injury, and got subpar
performances from Magic John
son and James Worthy.
“I have to do more and be
more assertive,” said Johnson,
who had 17 points and 14 assists
but was held to 12 field-goal at
tempts. “I have to do more than
take 12 shots. I have to step up.”
Pistons’ forward John Salley
said that Coach Chuck Daly kept
reminding the team that Worthy
was the Most Valuable Player of
last year’s finals.
“Chuck doesn’t forget stuff like
that,” Salley said. “Worthy had
that great game in Game 7 and it
makes Chuck mad when someone
has their best games against us.”
missing CWS again
knovl Aggie baseball players and fans
it than experienced a bitter sense of deja vu at the
avint j end of May when A&M fell a game short of
/ not tlie College World Series in Omaha for the
butiilihird straight year.
hem | The shock and disappointment of both
■he players and fans ended the season on a
—i sour note, and some may even say the
■eason’s hard work and accomplishments
Bvere all for nothing.
It is all too easy to let the early
Jeff
Osborne
Assistant Sports Editor
1 exit shatter our perspective and throw out
the good with the bad. Despite the
Unfortunate loss in the regional
Nhampionship to the LSU Tigers, the
Aggies 1989 baseball season should be
remembered as an outstanding success.
I A record-breaking 58 wins, a conference
|co-championship and a Southwest
| Conference Tournament Championship
, were not enough to get the Ags to Omaha,
but thrilled fans for three months. We also
had bragging rights as the nation’s number
one team for much of those same three
months.
Incredible as it may seem, the Aggies fell
short of their ultimate goal with what may
have been their best season ever.
The heroics of Big John Byington in the
series against the Texas Longhorns will
probably always be remembered by Aggies.
A long drought against the ’Horns finally
ended (a year later than expected), giving
A&M four wins over Texas in one season.
Aggie coach Mark Johnson had previously
beaten Texas only once before in his career,
making the wins over the archrival ’Horns
the season’s highlight.
In the Central Regional, back to back
losses to LSU seemed impossible, especially
with the team hungry for a taste of the
College World’s Series. This made the loss
to the Tigers hard to swallow.
I walked around in a state of numbness
and confusion for days, almost as if the loss
was only a nightmare and I would wake up,
turn on the TV and see the Aggies playing
in THE SERIES on ESPN.
I can only imagine how the Aggie players
and coaches felt, because I’m not sure I
believe it myself. The Aggie magic that had
carried them to the brink of the national
championship faded just when they seemed
to need it the most.
The end of the Longhorns SWC baseball
domination certainly made this the best
season in recent memory, perhaps the best
in a quarter of a century (since A&M’s last
CWS appearance in 1964. Coach Mark
Johnson and the rest of the Aggie staff and
players certainly have nothing to be
ashamed of this season.
According to ESPN, every coach of
baseball teams that played the Aggies said
Texas A&M was the best team that they
played this season (including the coach of
LSU). Coach Ron Fraser of the Miami
Hurricanes said he thought A&M might
still win the College World Series, even
though they aren’t a part of it.
It is a sad fact of life for this year’s team
and the Aggie fans, but sometimes the best
team doesn’t win.
The strong performance of the
Longhorns in Omaha speaks well of Texas
A&M’s ability, and the overall strength of
the Southwest Conference in baseball.
Texas Coach Cliff Gustafson may taunt the
Aggies because they fell short and his team
is on the verge of the national
championship, but he even admitted that
Texas A&M had a better team (four out of
five wins in a season against the ’Horns
speaks for itself).
1990 will probably be a rebuilding season
with the loss of so much senior talent such
as Eric Albright, Keith Langston, Kirk
Thompson, Scott Centala, Anthony
DeLaCruz, Andy Duke, Mike Easley, and
Jim Neumann.
On top of that, the probable departure of
juniors Chuck Knoblauch, John Byington
and Terry Taylor will give a very different
look to next year’s squad.
Despite the fresh start of next season, the
Aggies will again have the talent to be at the
top of the conference, or at least in the thick
of the title race.
But for now, Aggie baseball is eight
months away. Congratulations to the
nation’s best, regardless of the CWS
outcome or what the baseball polls say.
Aggie Baseball has given us something to
be proud of, a feeling that shouldn’t be
snuffed out because of the unexpected
early end of the season.
nd
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696-0191
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reg. $369.95 sale $179.95
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aluminum frame construction
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All parts, accessories and
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An Evening of Art & Culture from
INDIA
Lecture: Dr. S.S. Mathur, Minister (Education & Culture)
Embassy of India, Washington D.C.
Vocalist: Rita Sahi, Hindustani Classical Vocalist
accompanied by David Courtney on tabla
Music : Dr. Shankar P. Bhattacharyya on sarod
accompanied by David Courtney on tabla
Friday, June 9, 1989 Beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Texas A&M Memorial Student Center Room 201
Admission Free
Reception immediately following program in the
MSC FORSYTH CENTER GALLERIES
featuring the exhibition
INDIA: The Land and the People
The Photographs of Beatrice Pitney Lamb
Exhibition supported in part by the MSC Jordan Institute for International Awareness, and the India Association of
Texas A&M University. Additional Program funding provided by the College of Architecture, theCollegeof Liberal Arts,
the Office of Student Services, Drs. Mahesh and Nalini Dave, Drs. Sudhir and Anila Patel, Drs. Karim and Asha Haji, and
Dr. Mahendra Thakrar family.