Chang calms Tillstrom

Courier, on the other hand, had a tougher day. He lost the first set 4-6, came back to take the second 6-3 and then broke Pavel in the fifth and seventh games of the third set to win it 6-2.

Chang has an 11-10 lead in career matchups between the two, and has won five of their last six encounters. In their only previous meeting on clay, Courier won in three sets in the Italian Open in 1993.

Since winning this tournament last year, Chang’s only other title on the ATP tour came at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, last July. Ranked as high as second in his career, the 26-year-old Changhas suffered 11 early-round defeats since his victory here last year and his ranking has dropped to 12th.

Chang, who battled through a recent knee injury, needs to win today or his ranking will fall further.