The 31-year-old Asian-American star retired here Tuesday after losing to 15th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in a first-round match at the year's final Grand Slam tournament.

Despite never reaching the pinnacle of world number one and being unable to capture another Slam title after his 1989 French Open crown at age 17, Chang left the sport with a smile on his face and no regrets.

"If you walk away having regrets and not with a smile, something is not right," Chang said. "It's important to walk away feeling good whether you win or you lose.

"I wouldn't change a thing. You have your opportunities to win and you take them as best you can. Sometimes you come through, sometimes not. Unfortunately for me, that second Grand Slam never came.

"But the Lord blessed me with more than I ever imagined. I can walk away feeling good about it."

Just 18 hours after 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras was given a royal sendoff on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court, 223rd-ranked Chang made a relatively low-key exit to a standing ovation after a 2-10 farewell season.

"Not every athlete gets an ovation like that," Chang said. "It's special. You learn people care about me. This year I've learned more about how much people care about me than the years I played on tour.

"After 16 years, it will be nice to unpack my bags."

Chang defeated Sweden's Stefan Edberg in a thrilling five-set Roland Garros final 14 years ago to become the youngest men's Slam champion ever at 17 years and three months.

"The French Open brought out a cetain characteristic in me that was already there," he said. "It gave me a tremendous amount of confidence to go into any match knowing I was able to win. You go back to those memories and feed off that energy."

The defining match of Chang's career was a fourth-round, five-set win over then-number one Ivan Lendl on his way to that title. Cramps forced Chang to serve underhanded at one point in a duel that went four hours and 37 minutes.

"That match taught me a lot about life," Chang said. "As a person and player I have had to fight. Those kinds of matches remind me that to fight and not give up is a great thing.

"It would be nice to be remembered as a person who gave his best win or lose."

Failures dogged Chang. He peaked at second in the rankings in 1996 after losing the US Open final to Sampras. Chang's life might have been different had he won that day.

"I sometimes think about that," he said. "If I had won that match and I had become number one, I would have lost a little bit of drive.

"Even though I didn't win that match it helped get me through some difficult times. I learned a lot about myself and life," Chang said. "Those things developed characteristics in me as a person that will help me in the future."

Chang lost the 1996 US and Australian Open finals and in the semi-finals of both events in 1997. Chang never again reached the fourth round at a Slam, never wore that second Slam crown.