After Michael Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R..I. over the weekend, rumors were confirmed that Stanford grad and former NCAA champion Amber Liu and the 1989 French Open winner Michael Chang are engaged. (It’s a tennis match made in heaven.) This past Tuesday 36-year-old Michael Chang was in the stands watching 24-year-old Liu play in the Bank of the West Classic. We wish the best of luck to the newly engaged couple.
“I want to thank International Tennis Hall of Fame for this incredible honor. I realize the list of inductees is very small and to be included with such champions both on and off the court of the sport of tennis is truly special. This is a day I will remember for the rest of my life with much pride and honor. Thank you so very much.”
“It makes it even more special to share it with many of my closest friends and family today as well. People like Tom Ross and Kelly Wolf of Octagon, and Dianne Hayes of Reebok have played such a key role in my career and I am honored that they would come today just to be here today for the induction. My friends and family from Seattle and California, thank you for being such an important and encouraging part of my life and it means so much that you are here today too. As I reflect upon my career, the words dedication, perseverance, hard work, sacrifice, faith, unity and love come to mind and you would think that I was referring to myself through all these years but in actuality, I am not. You see, for any champion to succeed, he must have a team. A very incredible, special team. People that he can depend on, count on and rely upon through everything. The highs and lows, the wins and losses, the victories and failures and even the joys and heartaches both on and off the court. And, no one knows that better than my Mom, Dad, Carl and Dianna. For us, tennis was never about the winning or losing. The Lord Jesus taught us that very early on in my career. Sure, it is always nice to win but from the beginning, the way, way beginning, when Pete Sampras and I were 8 years old and we were competing it was always about unit, love, closeness and about spending time together doing things that we loved to do. Sometimes it was fishing. Sometimes it was soccer. A lot of times it was sharing a meal and talking but most often it was tennis. And the same rings true today even now as I am retired.”
“The goal, unity, sacrifice, care for one another, faith and reliance upon the Lord and a love that constantly encourages and lifts one another up. That has stayed with me throughout my entire life and career and to my family I say thank you for loving me that way and for giving me every opportunity to excel in a talent that God has given to me.”
“In my mind, with a team like you and the Lord’s blessings, who wouldn’t succeed? My job on the court was easy as compared to yours. I can say that now because I have since gotten a taste of what it is like to coach last year. Now, of course Carl, who has coached me for twelve years would say “yeah, right, you think you know what it means to coach but you really don’t know what a pain in the butt you can be at times”, which I must say is true. Now you can imagine with that kind of love, there was no pressure to come off the court after losing a touch match or having a bad day. And if there was, it wasn’t coming from my family. When you get to playing at the top, pressures are coming from everywhere and the last thing you ever want to worry about is whether or not you will still be loved or accepted by those dearest to you. I never had that kind of burden and I hope for future generations of tennis players around the world never have to carry that kind of burden either. But with that kind of comfort, love and support from my family it was easy to reach for the stars and to dream big dreams as the fear of failure rarely enters your mind. In fact, your only thoughts are giving your very best and striving to accomplish what no one thinks you can accomplish. But if you do come up short some time as we all do, I was one point away from becoming number one in the world; hear these wise words from my mom when I was just 17 years old. She said “as long as you have tried your best, as long as you have given your 100% that is all that people can ask of you, that is all the Lord desires of you and that is all that you can ever ask of yourself. If you do that, you should walk off the court, win or lose, with your head held high, knowing that you gave it your very best. So, to Mommy, [Bobba], Carl, and Dee Dee, thank you for always giving me your very best and of course, to this family. You are, and will always be in my hall of fame right here in my heart. I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my loving family.”
“Lastly, as I have shared many times before, I would like to give thanks and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that without Him, I am nothing, so I give Him all the glory and praise of all my accomplishments and for teaching me how to love and to live life to the very fullest. Thank you dear Lord.”
“In closing, I want to thank the International Tennis Hall of Fame again for this tremendous honor and also a special thanks to you, to many of my fans and supporters throughout the world for always encouraging me throughout my career through your cheers, your words and your letters.”
“Thank you for allowing me to celebrate this tennis career in such an extraordinary and special way. This is truly an incredible honor. Thank you very much.”
