Even in that window he would never win Wimbledon, and at the French Open you had Kuerten, Ferrero, even Corretja who were clearly superior to him. So that leaves only the hard court slams. Well in that window on hard courts you had Rafter who beat Chang at his peak in the 97 U.S Open semis, Agassi played some of the best tennis of his career in that interim you refer to (not as good as late 94-95 but as good or better as any other time in his career), even aging Sampras proved very tough from 2000-2002 when it came to the U.S Open as long as he wasnt gassed out like the 01 final, and Safin was a major force on hard courts around then and almost certainly too good for Chang on his good days, Kafelnikov who has a 4-0 record vs Chang including wins in both 94 and 97 was a real contender on hard courts too then, and Hewitt himself if you are counting him. No he would not have won 4-5 slams. Maybe 1 or 2.
Come on. Safin "almost certainly too good fof Chang on his good days"...LOL...the same applies to Hewitt, and maybe even Federer, those "good" days come every 5 years. Hewitt finished 7-7 with Safin and they NEVER Played during those key years years at a slam. Chang actually beat Safin once, and went 3 sets in his other 2 meetings with Safin even THOUGH THEY all came in 99 OR LATER!
Chang was SEVEN AND FOUR with rafter, and no, Chang was not at peak when they met the USO, in fact, that was the first sign of the crumbling, despite that he avenged his loss at Davis cup a few weeks later.
In any case, this anecdotal match stuff has to stop, even though, it is the stock and trade of this place. Silly and meaningless, when it comes to intergeneration comparisons.
Yes, Sampras played well at those USO's....EXCEPT as you point out in the finals where he was clearly running off fumes. I doubt the slowed down 2000 Sampras would stand a chance against Chang (who played him tough at peak anyways), when he was playing like a low-energy anemic zombie!
In any case, I am not saying it wouldn't be tough, or that Chang, like Hewitt, would need every bit of his guts, instinct, savvy and strategic versatility(much much greater than Hewitt), to pull those out, only that he would. Like Hewitt, he just feel a half step short of the greatest when they were at peak.
PS. Oh except when you say Corretja clearly better than Chang! WOW! LAME! LOL! Even Kuerten would have had his hands full with Chang at peak (though Kuerten was better at his best on clay). Chang had plenty of good wins, at the FO, incuding people like Bruguera, who was as, as good a clay courter as has been seen. (the only guy I ever saw hit a clay ball reguarly as heavy/hard as Nadal)
