Chang-Sampras Match Will Be a Reunion of Sorts

IRVINE — Michael Chang and Pete Sampras, two old friends, will meet in what promoters are billing as the greatest tennis match in Orange County history.

It’s only an exhibition, but the Disneyland Challenge at 7 tonight at UC Irvine’s Bren Center figures to be the most entertaining tennis played on county soil in quite some time.

Chang is coming off a strong performance in the U.S. Open, where he advanced to the semifinals and just missed a chance to reach the final. Stefan Edberg, the Open champion, beat Chang in a memorable 5 1/2-hour, five-set match.

Sampras, fighting stomach cramps and fatigue, lost the Open final to Edberg, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, took off a week or so to recover, then helped the U.S. Davis Cup team beat Sweden and Edberg in semifinal-round play last weekend in Minneapolis.

This week, the two former age-group standouts, return home to the Southland.

“He’s a person I’ve played all my life since I was 10 years old,” Sampras (Palos Verdes) said of Chang (Coto de Caza). “I’m looking forward to coming back to L.A. and playing Michael. I haven’t had the chance to get home much this year.”

No, he’s been busy cleaning up on the tour.

The Davis Cup semifinal was just another highlight of a 1992 year filled with memorable moments. Playing with John McEnroe, who he calls “the greatest doubles player that’s ever played,” Sampras got caught up in the flag-waving fervor of the Davis Cup.

He and McEnroe clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Edberg and Anders Jarryd, advancing the United States to the final against Switzerland Dec. 4-6 at Ft. Worth.

It did nothing to bolster Sampras’ ranking, which is No. 3 in the world, but it might have soothed some of the emotional wounds from his loss in the U.S. Open.

“I look at this as a great chance I let slip by,” he said a few days after the U.S. Open. “It was a great opportunity that slipped through my hands.”

Ilie Nastase, one of tennis’ first wild and crazy guys, and Tracy Austin headline the undercard.

Call 644-5800 for ticket information.