There are many Asian tennis players now. The list goes on and on, but no one was more memorable growing up than Michael Chang who became the youngest man ever to win a major title at 17 years old in 1989 by winning the French Open. He was an anomaly at the time when there weren't many Asian stars in the sport. I couldn't remember any other Asian tennis players at the time. He was the only one from my perspective. Standing at 5 feet 9, he was a smaller-than-average male tennis player. But, what he lacked in size, he made up for with his quickness and aggressive approach on the court. In short, I miss him because he was an integral part and hero of the Asian-American community. There weren't many Asian sports stars: not in Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Football, etc. There were not many athletes Asian Americans could look up to.
Fast forward to 2024. There are now many Asian athletes highlighting the sports scene. In tennis, it was much worse. And, although there had been many in the sport since then, Asians in tennis hid in the background for many more seasons until the emergence of Li Na, the first Asian player to win a singles grand slam, winning all four major championships in one calendar year. Li Na won another Grand Slam in 2014, three years later. She made the Asian community proud by becoming the first one to accomplish the feat not once but twice. Then, in 2013, Naomi Osaka of Japan came along, becoming the first Asian tennis player to hold the number 1 ranking and win the Grand Slam 4 times.
There will be more Asian presence in tennis, but we will never forget what Michael Chang meant to the Asian community. After his career, Michael became a coach, never losing his passion for the sport. And, now, he's trying his hand at playing pickleball, a sport similar to tennis. Well, sort of.