Michael Chang was always one of the most popular players at the US Open during his playing career. Now he’s coaching an equally well-liked figure in Kei Nishikori as the No. 6 seed continues his run through the US Open draw.
The 1996 US Open finalist and former world No. 2 spoke to USOpen.org after his US Open Champions Invitational match (with Rick Leach) against Pat Cash and Mark Philippoussis. Chang gave his thoughts about Nishikori’s epic five-set quarterfinal win on Wednesday over Andy Murray and how the Japanese star has grown as a player under his tutelage.
What are your thoughts on how Kei played against Murray on Wednesday?
I think Kei played great. It was obviously great to be able to get through that. It was a tough match with a lot of ups and downs. He's obviously playing great tennis, so hopefully we can keep it going.
How do you think Kei has evolved as a player since getting to the final here two years ago?
I think Kei has improved in almost every area, and that's been great to see. It's been a great team effort. Everyone has been playing a very important role and Kei has been putting in the hard work. It's been fun to see that pay off.
Next up for Kei is Stan Wawrinka. He beat Stan two months ago in Toronto. What will he need to pull out another win on Friday?
It's never easy to play against Stan, particularly in the Grand Slams. He's going to have to come out there and play great tennis. It would be nice for Kei to be able to repeat what he did a couple of years ago and play another final, but we'll take it point by point and see what happens.