The American lost 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of his 16th French Open against Fabrice Santoro, the Frenchman who won the juniors tournament the year when Chang won his first and last Grand Slam title.

"In my 16-year career, I only cried twice and both times were on this court," Chang told the crowd after a long standing ovation which had him burst into tears on centre court.

"I want to thank the French Tennis Federation for being good enough to give me wild card at 16 in 1988. It gave me the necessary experience to return the next year and win," he added.

"Now I want to thank the French Federation again for being good enough to give me a wild card again this year."

Currently ranked 142nd in the world, Chang was invited by French tennis chief Christian Bimes for the tournament draw and also to bid farewell to an event he took by storm in 1989.

After his defeat by Santoro, Bimes handed the American the original poster of the 1989 edition.

Chang produced glimpses of the player who beat Stefan Edberg in a thrilling five-set final 14 years ago, but only in the first set, in which two of the most tactical and cunning players on the circuit thrilled with their invention and inspiration.

LASTING IMPRESSION

But age finally took its toll and Chang, 31, gradually lost ground against the Frenchman he first met at the age of 13 in the Petits As tournament in Tarbes, and bowed down in just over two hours.

The intensity of the cheers in the tribunes showed what a lasting impression Chang has made on the Parisian public.

His 1989 winning campaign remains one of the most exciting moments in the tournament history -- before beating Edberg in the final, Chang had ridiculed then world number one Ivan Lendl, even winning a point by serving underarm.

"I want to thank you all for the warmth you've shown to me through all these years even though I'm not French," he said.

"God bless you all."

In 1995, Chang played his second final in Paris, losing to Austrian Thomas Muster.

The year after, he also reached the Australian Open and US Open finals, losing to Boris Becker and Pete Sampras respectively.

In his 16 years on the tour, Chang won 34 tournaments and reached a career high of second in the world in 1996.