2024-08-20 10:10:02
NEW YORK – Columbia men’s tennis rising junior and 2024 NCAA men’s singles runner-up Michael Zheng returns to the US Open for the second straight year to compete in the qualifying draw.
Qualifying play is scheduled for Monday through Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center with 16 main-draw places on offer for those who can earn their way in with three victories. Zheng will meet Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the first round of qualifying Tuesday.
Zheng earned a wildcard into the event thanks to his runner-up finish at the 2024 NCAA Singles Championships and returns to compete in the US Open qualifying draw after posting a first-round qualifying victory last year. Zheng battled past Franco Agamenone in two sets, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the second round where he was defeated by Otto Virtanen.
Zheng enters the US Open qualifying tournament riding a wave of recent success. Zheng won his first professional title a week ago at the ITF M25 tournament in Southaven, Mississippi. Zheng cruised through the bracket with five straight-set victories, including a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Tyler Zink in the championship match. With the singles title, Zheng is the first Columbia men’s tennis athlete to win a professional tournament since Roko Horvat claimed the singles title at the ITF M15 in Celje in August 2022.
Additionally, Zheng shined in doubles play at the ITF M25 event in Southaven. Partnering with TCU’s Lui Maxted, the duo posted four consecutive wins, including a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin to secure the doubles title.
Zheng finished his sophomore season at Columbia with the best performance in the NCAA Singles bracket in program history. He is the first singles player from the Columbia tennis program to play in the national championship. Zheng is also just the third person in program history to earn ITA All-American status in two consecutive seasons.
“We are proud of Michael and how he has continued to develop and mature – both on and off the tennis court,” Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men’s Tennis Howard Endelman ’87CC said. “We are extremely pleased that the USTA has awarded a US Open qualifying wildcard to Michael after his performance this season which culminated in a spot in the finals of the NCAA Individual Championships and a year-end top-10 national ranking.”
Zheng continues to be recognized as part of an elite group of Columbia singles tennis players to compete in the US Open. Prior to Zheng, the last Lion to play in the singles qualifying draw or main draw was Phil Williamson ’87CC. Williamson saw action in the main draw of the tournament in 1987, 1991 and 1993. He most recently competed in 1997 as he lost in the qualifying draw. Max Schnur ’15CC is the last Lion to compete in the doubles main draw at the US Open in 2022.
Eight other former Lions have played in the qualifying or main draw at the US Open in singles. Evan Ratner ’85CC, Matthew Litsky ’87CC and current Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men’s Tennis Howard Endelman ’87CC have each participated in the singles qualifying draw.
Eric Fromm ’80CC earned a spot in the main draw of the US Open in four different years – 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Vitas Gerulaitis was with the Lions for a stint and lost in the 1979 US Open final to John McEnroe. Rick Fagel ’75CC qualified for a spot in the main draw in 1975 and 1978. Fagel went straight into the main draw in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. Henry Bunis ’75CC qualified for the main draw in 1974 before losing the first-round match to Butch Seewagen who was the Columbia tennis coach at the time. Bunis lost in the qualifying draw in 1975 before playing in the main draw in 1976 and 1977. He won his first-round matches in the main draw both years. Jon Molin ’77CC qualified for the main draw after losing in the qualifying draw in 1978.
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