When a cramping Michael Chang and his infamous underhanded serves shocked tournament favorite Ivan Lendl and the entire tennis world en route to winning the 1989 French Open, it marked the first time an American man had won at Roland Garros since Tony Trabert in 1955, an infamous streak of 34 years.
Following Chang’s sole major triumph, there was a mini-renaissance of sorts for the American men in Paris over the next decade and it appeared that the Americans’ futility on clay was a thing of the past; Jim Courier would take home back-to-back French trophies in 1991 and 1992, and Andre Agassi capped his career grand slam taking the title in 1999.
