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Falling star Chang upset by Ilie in first round of Citrix
Posted: Tuesday February 29, 2000 12:40 AM
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Australia's Andrew Ilie knocked Michael Chang out of the Citrix Championships on Monday night, beating the fading star 7-6 (6), 6-4 in a first-round match. "In the tiebreaker, I never had any fear of losing the match," said Ilie, the 1998 winner who will face either Richard Fromberg or Jonathan Stark in the second round. "I just went for it and it just worked out. It was good to just get out there without playing three." Ilie hit two serves that were clocked at 130 miles per hour and finished with six aces and no double faults. But his groundstrokes gave the seventh-seeded Chang the most trouble. "I knew he was going to go for his shots and he was going to make them," Chang said. "I would have preferred if he would have missed some more of them." The loss extends the longest title drought of Chang's career. Last year, Chang failed to reach a final, snapping his streak of 11 consecutive years with at least one title. "It's a little bit frustrating ... I feel a little disappointed in leaving this place early," said Chang, who has reached the final in Auckland, New Zealand, and the quarterfinals in San Jose, Calif., and Memphis, Tenn., this year. "By no means do I feel I'm back, but I feel I'm headed in the right direction." In another night match, Andy Roddick lost his professional debut, falling 7-6 (6), 7-5 to Italy's Laurence Tieleman. Roddick, 17, of Boca Raton, became the first American in 41 years to win the boys singles title in the Australian Open. In other matches, Mike Bryan beat Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (5); Spain's Francisco Clavet beat Australia's Mark Woodforde 6-2, 6-4; Paul Goldstein beat Romania's Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4; and Austria's Markus Hipfl defeated Thailand's Paradom Srichaphan 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3. Australian star Patrick Rafter, sidelined for six months because of a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, begins play Tuesday against Argentina's Hernan Gumy. Rafter is seeded No. 1.
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