I won the French Open before I had my driver’s license and was just 17 when I shocked the tennis world at Roland Garros
Michael Chang won it all and shocked the world.
Stefan Edberg wasn't good enough in five full sets on the famous clay courts at Roland Garros.
Ivan Lendl also couldn't pass the test.
But a 17-year-old tennis prodigy did, despite the fact that Chang didn't have his driver's license yet.
"I tried to stay as calm as I could and I tried to not panic at all," Chang said. "I'm just real fortunate."
As the French Open moves toward its 2024 conclusion, attention will turn to the final rounds with the Summer Olympics in Paris getting closer by the day.
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But it's hard to imagine anyone topping what Chang pulled off 35 years ago.
Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Mats Wilander, Lendl and Edberg were on top of the men's game, while Jimmy Connors was still a No. 9 seed.
Chang, a right-handed American, stood just 5ft 9in and was beginning a career that would eventually feature 662 wins, 34 titles and a world No. 2 ranking.
As a 15th seed, he wasn't supposed to have a chance against the top-seeded Lendl and was in a huge 2-0 hole after two sets.
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Then history happened.
Chang won the third set 6-3, utilized an incredible underhand serve to stun an increasingly frustrated Lendl, and won a tournament-changing match 3-2.
“In the fifth set, at 2-1, I actually started to walk towards the chair umpire (to retire)," Chang . "But then I had an incredible conviction of heart and thought: ‘What are you doing?’
"It was almost like God was saying, 'You can’t quit now, if you quit now, every time you’re under the situation, you’re going to quit again.'
"All of a sudden, I started going for my shots and points started turning into games and games started turning into more games. Before I knew it, somehow or other I was able to win that match."
While Chang was becoming the name to watch at Roland Garros and winning over Paris tennis fans, he was also fighting off cramps and nerves -- and still didn't have a license to drive.
“It’s funny because I actually didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 19,” Chang told the . “I was traveling so much, and I didn’t have to drive. I was flying into all these tournaments.
“To play in front of thousands of people was super exciting to me. I don’t think that ever gets boring for any professional athlete.”
Chang's magical French Open run in 1989 was filled with firsts.
At 17 years and 110 days, the New Jersey-born athlete became the youngest male player to win a Grand Slam title.
Once he overcame Edberg in five sets, Chang became the first American male to win the French Open since 1955, and the first American to win a Grand Slam tournament since 1984.
"I got one break point in the fourth and I think I saved like 10 or 11 break points in that fourth set, that was a huge difference," Chang said.
"Then in the fifth set he got tired. I have a lot of great memories. It’s a special place for me.”
Chang collapsed to the clay court before he lifted a trophy that once seemed impossible.
"I was in France on a family caravan holiday for those 2 weeks," one fan tweeted. "We had the tiniest b&w portable telly ever and I watched the tennis whenever I could.
"Chang’s underarm serve to Lendl was the first I’d ever seen and it blew my mind!"
"Insane accomplishment!!" a second fan posted.
"Michael Chang a legend," a third fan wrote.
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Chang, 52, earned more than $19 million during his tennis career.
He reached the finals of the Australian and US Opens, and won 68 percent of his total matches.