Michael Chang wasn’t trying to start a trend when he hit the most famous underhand serve in the Open Era at Roland Garros 30 years ago. Chang, 17 and cramping, was trying to survive.

The American was facing three-time champion and World No. 1 Ivan Lendl in the fourth round, and the two were mired in a fifth set. Chang, serving at 4-3, 15/30, decided to do something different.

At the start of his service motion, he kept his racquet down, slipped the ball out of his hand and sliced an underhand serve. Lendl charged forward and smacked a forehand, but Chang won the point and changed the match.

“It created a very interesting element to the match and certainly made the battle, not only physical, but mental as well,” Chang told ATPTour.com in Paris.

The American went on to win the 1989 Roland Garros title, his first and only Grand Slam crown, beating Stefan Edberg in the final. Chang became the first American winner at Roland Garros since 1955 and remains the youngest Grand Slam champion.

But during his 16-year career, he never again hit an underhand serve, despite its success. “It actually never crossed my mind to ever use it again, strangely enough,” he said.

Others, however, have happily borrowed the trickery. Aussie Nick Kyrgios used it against Rafael Nadal en route to his Acapulco title in February, and last week at Roland Garros, Alexander Bublik deployed the tactic a few times against Dominic Thiem.

The servers rely on the element of surprise: just as they’re beginning their usual service motion, they jut out of their take back and drop the ball out of their hand. Catch a player off guard, and you can win the point, or, as Chang did, alter the match.

Kyrgios and Bublik weren’t struggling with cramps, though; they saw their opponents standing far beyond the baseline, nearly pressed against the back wall, and chose to start the point with a drop shot.

“To be honest, it’s a good choice against players like us who are that far behind the baseline,” Thiem said. “There is nothing bad about it. And I was prepared for that, so that was no problem.”

The 2018 Roland Garros finalist hasn’t practised racing forward, but he was expecting the serve against Bublik, who went to net 71 times (41/71, 57%) and tried to keep Thiem off rhythm during their second-round match.

“At least he didn’t hit me an ace, but I think he won two out of three,” Thiem said. “Some players do it well, him, Kyrgios. And against these guys you have to be prepared to sometimes make a sprint when you return.”

Roger Federer has thought about using it many times, and although he hasn’t yet, he supports the surprise shot.

“Underarm is definitely a tactic, I believe, especially when guys are hugging the fence in the back… Why not try it?” he said earlier this year. “The problem is in practice, you never really try it. When you come out in the big stage in front of a full crowd, tricky to pull off.”

At Roland Garros, Federer added, with a smile: “Anything in the rules is OK.”

Thiem faces Russian Karen Khachanov for a place in the Roland Garros semi-finals on Wednesday. Although Khachanov, a 6’6” Russian known for his big game, hasn’t thrown in any underhand serves through four matches in Paris, the Austrian will be ready.

Novak Djokovic looks for his 26th consecutive Grand Slam win when he faces Alexander Zverev on Wednesday at Roland Garros. The other quarter-final of the day features Dominic Thiem against Karen Khachanov.

Top seed Djokovic and fifth seed Zverev are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 2-2, but the German won their lone clay-court meeting in the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia final. The Serbian won his 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title at the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Tsitsipas) and also finished runner-up finish in Rome (l. to Nadal).

Djokovic has yet to drop a set this fortnight and remains in strong contention to complete the “Nole Slam” for the second time by holding all four majors at once. The Serbian leads the six remaining players in service games won.

Serving Stats Of Remaining 2019 Roland Garros Contenders

**Serving stats courtesy of SMT

After struggling for form since March, Zverev has turned his year around at the end of the clay-court swing. He won his first title of the season two weeks ago at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (d. Jarry) and currently has an eight-match winning streak. Fitness could play a factor on Wednesday as Zverev has logged far more time (12 hours and five minutes) on court this fortnight than his opponent (six hours and 46 minutes).

However, Zverev will arrive fully healthy for his showdown against Djokovic, a stark contrast to the hamstring injury he had while facing Thiem in last year’s quarter-finals. The German is confident he has the tools to prevail if he’s playing his best.

“Obviously last year’s quarter-final was very unfortunate to me, very sad, ending with an injury,” said Zverev. “Hopefully this year will be different and it will be a great match. It’s going to be a tough battle against Novak, the World No. 1. It’s going to be interesting.”

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head clash between these players?#RG19

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) June 4, 2019

Khachanov, seeded 10th, won his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Thiem in last year’s Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals. The Russian defeated Juan Martin del Potro on Monday to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final. After a challenging season that saw him arrive in Paris with a 10-12 record, Khachanov has found his form and produced a run that will ensure he makes his Top 10 debut in the ATP Rankings on Monday.

“I will try to do my best against [Thiem],” said Khachanov. “He’s reached at least the semi-finals [four] years in a row, so he’s for sure one of the top guys on clay. But I will try to fight and we’ll see.”

Fourth seed Thiem has rounded into form this fortnight. He needed four sets to prevail in each of his opening three rounds, but raised his level to record a convincing fourth-round victory against Gael Monfils. The Austrian is at 20-3 at the second major of the year since 2016 and remains a strong contender to lift his first Grand Slam title on Sunday. Thiem’s clay-court season also includes a title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Medvedev).

Massu: ‘Thiem Works, Thinks And Seeks To Be No. 1’

More On #RG19

* The Big 3 On The Big Stage
* Djokovic, Chasing All Four Slams, Feels Extra Motivation
* The Future Of The One-Handed Backhand

ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, 5 JUNE 2019

Court Philippe-Chatrier start 2:00pm
WTA match
[1] Novak Djokovic vs [5] Alexander Zverev

Court Suzanne-Lenglen start 2:00pm
WTA match
[4] Dominic Thiem vs Karen Khachanov

Don’t get him wrong: Rafael Nadal is excited to again be facing Roger Federer at Roland Garros. The two will meet in the semi-finals on Friday in what will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting since 2017 Shanghai and their 39^th matchup overall.

But what most excites the 11-time champion Nadal is that he’s back into the last four again in Paris. Nadal was ruthless on Tuesday, beating Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 to make his 12^th semi-final in Paris.

And although it seems like a guarantee in hindsight, the Spaniard had his clay-court struggles before the season’s second Grand Slam major, not winning a title before the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last month. Now, however, Nadal is back into the semi-finals and looking forward to facing his greatest rivals.

“Being honest, personally, for me, the main thing is being in the semi-final. The way that I have been playing has been very positive. I have been playing well, very solid. Winning good matches against tough opponents like today. I am happy with that,” Nadal said.

“Of course after having Roger in front in the semi-finals is an extra thing. We shared the most important moments of our careers together on court facing each other.

“So it’s another episode of this, and I’m happy for that and excited. It will be special moment, and let’s try to be ready for it.”

Federer and Nadal have met five times at Roland Garros, including the 2005 semi-final. Nadal is 5-0 and has dropped only four sets in those matches. They’ve competed in the final four times, including 2006, ’07, ’08 and ’11. On clay overall, the Spaniard has won 13 of their 15 matches.

Nadal, however, said every match against Federer is different and that he expects a new challenge in the semi-finals.

“We always try things. Let’s see. Let’s see what’s going on. I really expect that he’s going to play aggressive, changing rhythms, going to the net. That’s my feeling, that he’s going to try to play that way, because he’s playing well and he has the tennis to make that happen,” Nadal said.

“I have to be solid. I have to hit the ball enough strong to not allow him to do the things from good positions. I need to let him play from difficult positions, so from there he’s going to have fewer chances to go to the net or to play his aggressive game.

“If I am able to play good tennis and play well with my forehand and backhand, I hope to put him in trouble. If not, I will be in trouble.”

The two have not met on clay since the 2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia final, and not at Roland Garros since the 2011 title match. Since June 2011, Nadal has won five more Roland Garros titles. He’s now two wins away from his record-extending 12^th title here. But first: Federer.

“It’s is always a big match against him. The level of tennis that you need to play always is the highest. And I am playing well, but I need to play very well against him. So I hope to be ready to make that happen,” Nadal said. “What I will do is try to do my best, so that the victories I have won on this surface against him count for something. And he will do his utmost to make sure that his latest victories against me have their weight. And so we’ll see.”

Federer has won their past five matchups, including four in 2017, all of which took place on hard court.

“It’s really a particular match. We all know it,” Nadal said. “But in the end, it’s just a tennis match. The best player will have the most chances of winning this match. It’s a match between the best players in the world, indeed. But then the player who will be the closest, will have the most chances, will win.”

If you’re left-handed, currently in Paris and can break a nasty serve wide to the ad court, you might just be who Roger Federer is looking for.

Deep into the second week of Roland Garros, options for lefty practice partners are somewhat limited. But Federer is in need of lefty practice partners during the next two days as he prepares for his blockbuster Friday semi-final against arch rival Rafael Nadal.

Looking forward to their 39^th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, Federer said that playing Nadal at Roland Garros was a massive challenge despite his own excellent form that he will take into the match.

“With Rafa, particularly on clay, you have to be aware of his strengths, what he brings to the table. And on top of it, because he’s a left-hander, it just changes everything,” Federer said.

“I have two days, which I guess is a good thing. It’s better than one. It’s better than none. So from that standpoint, I get more left-handed practice, more serves and all that stuff.

“Because I guess I have played five guys now that are righties, so for me it’s a complete switch-around. Just the way the ball goes out of your strings with the different spins, it’s just different. So you have to get used to that quickly. Don’t have much time to waste.

“That’s why you have to be fearless to some extent to take on the spinny balls, the sliding balls, the kicking balls, and that’s what I will do on Friday.”

More From #RG19
* Great Escape: 10 Years On, Federer Reflects On Paris Comeback
* Why Federer Should Not Be Counted Out At #RG19
* Carrying On The One-Handed Backhand
* Roger & Rafa: Every Match Ever Played

Nadal and Federer have met just once on clay in the past eight years: in 2013 in Rome. And they have not met on clay since Federer switched to a larger racquet head, which offers more protection against Nadal’s signature crosscourt forehand, which historically has haunted Federer on the dirt.

Although Federer is a modest 2-13 against Nadal on clay – including 0-5 at Roland Garros – the Swiss said that he believes he has a chance to advance to the final. On the upside, the Swiss is on a five-match winning streak against Nadal, the longest run in his favour in their rivalry, which Nadal leads 23-15.

“Like against any player, there is always a chance. Otherwise nobody will be in the stadium to watch because everybody already knows the result in advance,” Federer said. “And I think sport does that to you, that every match needs to be played before it’s decided.

“And that’s exactly what everybody believes by facing Rafa. They know it’s going to be tough. But you just never know. He might have a problem. He might be sick. You never know. You might be playing great or for some reason he’s struggling. Maybe there’s incredible wind, rain, 10 rain delays. You just don’t know. That’s why you need to put yourself in that position.

“For me to get to Rafa is not simple. It took five matches here for me to win to get there. That’s why I’m very happy to play Rafa, because if you want to do or achieve something on the clay, inevitably, at some stage, you will go through Rafa, because he’s that strong and he will be there.

“I knew that when I signed up for the clay that hopefully that’s gonna happen. If I would have had a different mindset to avoid him, then I should not have played the clay. So I think by that mindset, I think it helped me to play so well so far this tournament.”