A star on the rise: Kai-Chen Chang – Tennis Special
Taiwanese starlet, Kai-Chen Chang, sent a warning to all top WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) contenders after making a final showdown at the HP Open 2012, an outdoor hard court event taking place in Osaka, Japan.
Entering the tournament standing at number 134 in the WTA Premier Rankings, Chang unleashed exquisite forehands from her box of tricks and secured a spot in the title-round at this WTA International-level tournament taking place from 6th to 14th
October. Spicing her performance further, the Taiwanese youngster stunned several seeds including the top seeded Samantha Stosur en route to the final round. Apart from bowing out to the British star, Heather Watson, in a hard fought battle in three sets,
the Taiwanese stole the hearts of her nation.
The 21-year-old stormed into the Utsubo Tennis Center in her opening round match against third seeded Christina McHale. She was broken four times but cashed five out of 12 break chances to formulate a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory in almost two hours.
Chang maintained her intensity in the following round. She required 97 minutes to stomp over the Australian challenger, Casey Dellacqua, in straight sets and progress.
The in-form Taiwanese carried her rhythm in the quarter-finals against eighth seeded Laura Robson. She lost her path in the second set but remained focused to set up a date with top seeded Samantha Stosur.
She held her composure against the former US Open champion and after dominating in 143 minutes, the Taiwanese pulled out the victory with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) score line.
In the final showdown, Chang locked horns with her fellow unseeded challenger, Heather Watson from Great Britain. She squandered a set point in the opening set and gifted away the opener. However, the Taiwanese saved a match point and pulled out the equaliser
with a 7-5 score line. Chang maintained consistency in her game in the deciding set and sought four championship points. However, she wasted them and eventually suffered a 5-7, 7-5, 6-7(4) loss in three hours and 11 minutes.
"She's an amazing returner, so I wanted to go for it," Watson, who became first British women to capture a WTA title since 1988, reflected about the Taiwanese’s skills and about how she counterattacked them. "What I've learned from my coaches is to go for
it and not hope they miss - as you get better and play the top girls, you've got to go for it because they won't give it to you. So I went for it and I don't regret it - though if I lost the match I probably would have regretted it. But I ended up winning
the match, so I'll get over it!"
Before entering this tournament, Chang has not gone beyond quarter-finals. However, after reaching the final round, she was bidding to become the third Taiwanese contestant to lift a WTA title. Su-Wei Hsieh conquered her first two titles this season while
s**+-Ting Wang captured six titles during the 1990s.
After securing the final berth in Osaka, Chang cracked the Top 100 and gained confidence boost.
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