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By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff

Michael Chang rarely gets emotional in public.

But after the former No. 2 player in the world defeated Jan-Michael Gambill to win the Mercedes-Benz Cup on Sunday in the Los Angeles Tennis Center – his first title in more than two years – tears welled up in his eyes.

“It’s been emotional for me. The last couple of years have been tough,” said Chang, who last won in Shanghai in 1998.

“In life you’re going to have some ups and you’re going to have some downs,” he added. “When I had my downs it was hard not to get discouraged. I think in life when you are down, you got to get yourself back up.”

At the press conference, the 1989 French Open Champion was asked when he last got that emotional after a match.

“I can’t really remember the last time I was that emotional in public other than in the ’89 French,” Chang said. “Obviously we’ve had times in private where things have been pretty tough.”

He won the match when Gambill retired after they played the first two sets 6-7(7-2), 6-3.

Not only did Chang win his first title in two years, he did it in the city where he honed his game.

“I’ve got a lot of friends and family here,” said Chang, who was born in New Jersey but grew up in Los Angeles. “In a sense, I was playing in front of my hometown.

“To break through and win a title in Los Angeles is pretty neat,” he added.

Chang’s long awaited trip back to the winner’s circle wasn’t easy, as the 23-year-old Gambill gave him all he could handle.

Backed by a powerful serve that reached as high as 127 mph, Gambill took the match’s first set 7-6 by winning the tie-breaker 7-2.

Because of injuries to both his left knee and right ankle, Gambill was forced to retire after the second set.

Gambill, who played for the U.S. in last weekend’s Davis Cup semifinals in Spain, came into the match with his left knee sore due to the tremendous amount of tennis he has been playing lately.

Three games into the second set, Gambill was noticeably favoring his left leg.

Then when Gambill was one point away from breaking Chang and making the score 5-4 in the second set, he suffered his second injury as he sprained his right ankle.

The injury occurred after Gambill overhead smash the ball that Chang eventually ran down and hit for a passing winner.

“On that overhead I just came down on my ankle wrong,” said Gambill, who was told by trainers after the match that he will not need an MRI.

“I heard it pop,” he added. “I’ve never heard anything in my body pop before. I was like, ‘Oh God, that doesn’t sound good at all.’ ”

Not only did Gambill get hurt on that breakpoint, but if he had won the point the complexion of the match would have changed.

“That was a huge point,” Chang said. “If I lost that point who knows what could have happened after that.”

After his second injury, Gambill asked for and received a three-minute medical timeout.

With a raucous cheer from the crowd, Gambill decided to make a go of it and see if he could somehow sneak a game away.

“I thought maybe if I could slime one of those points out at 30-40 and make him a little nervous then I could hold serve somehow,” Gambill said.

Gambill would not get a chance to serve again as the young American wasn’t able to move freely because of his two injuries.

He decided to call it quits after the second set.

“I thought I could get through it with the knee injury,” Gambill said. “But after I hurt my ankle there was no way I could play the third set.”

Chang, who won the Mercedes-Benz Cup in 1996, said a re-emphasis on speed and quickness, as well as increased confidence, helped get him back to the winner’s circle.

“I think my rise in my confidence has been gradual,” Chang said. “It’s definitely not one of those things that hit me and came over night.”

Chang took home $49,500 in prize money and will now be ranked No. 22 in the world in the new ATP Tour rankings.