UPDATE: From Columbia’s Dorms to Grand Slam Victory: Michael Zheng’s Melbourne Moment

*Columbia’s Michael Zheng. Photo courtesy of Columbia University Athletics*

UPDATE: Wednesday, January 21, at 11:30 a.m.: Zheng fell overnight (New York time) in the second round of the Australian Open to No. 32 Corentin Moutet of France. In the early morning hours locally, Zheng got off to a perfect start, winning the first three games of the first set. He went on to win the first set, but then lost the next two (6-3, 1-6, 3-6, 0-2) before retiring from the match in the fourth set with an injury.

Zheng, the back-to-back NCAA singles champion and four-time All-American, will return to Columbia later this week and rejoin the 10th-ranked men’s tennis team. The Columbia Lions will host Illinois, Florida, and Kentucky this Friday and Saturday for the ITA Kickoff at the Milstein FamilyTennis Center on West 218th Street. They begin the weekend against the University of Illinois Friday at 3 p.m. Matches are open to all, and entry is free.

By Tracy Zwick

Some seniors are ready to slack off in their final spring semester. Columbia University Lions tennis star Michael Zheng has taken the opposite path.

The two-time NCAA men’s singles champ battled his way into the Australian Open main draw last week – his first appearance in one of tennis’ four annual Grand Slam tournaments. Zheng gained entry the hard way – by going 3-0 in qualifying the week before the tournament’s formal start Saturday. Then, early Sunday morning (New York time), he stunned fellow American Sebastian Korda in a five-set first-round thriller, knocking out a former quarterfinalist on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

At the end of each match at tournaments like the Australian Open, the winner is handed a marker and invited to write a few words on ESPN’s camera lens. Zheng scrawled “Go Lions.”

Zheng has been putting together an impressive resume as he prepares to leave campus post-graduation later this year. But his reads a little differently than even the most accomplished of his Ivy League peers. In 2024 Zheng became the first Columbia player in more than a century to win an NCAA singles championship. And last November, he became the first men’s player in nearly 15 years to successfully defend that title.

“The fact that he’s here doing this is pretty astonishing,” said David Law of “The Tennis Podcast,” the most popular podcast in tennis. “He was number 700 in the world just seven or eight months ago,” Law said. Korda, his Sunday opponent, was ranked as high as 15 in 2024.

Zheng is currently on winter break from Columbia, where he’s a psychology major with 15 credits to go till graduation. He’s talked about turning professional but said that he wants to finish his degree while combining his Lions tennis schedule with some professional tournaments. In addition to his studies, Zheng is committed to helping the team win a national title in May.

However far he goes this Australian summer in Melbourne, he’ll soon be flying home to frigid New York and a college dormitory he shares with five roommates.

As for the $100,000 he earned by qualifying for the main draw, and an additional $50,000 he won in defeating Korda in the first round, it’s unclear whether he can keep it. In the past, amateurs could not keep prize money. But under current rules, players are allowed to use prize money to cover their “tennis-related expenses,” UWSer Matthew Futterman explained in his coverage for The Athletic. “There may be some wiggle room since he’s a second-semester senior.”

When asked about the prize money, Zheng said he’d have to check with his coach, UWSer and repeat Ivy League Coach of the Year Howard Endelman. “I don’t want to get into trouble,” Zheng said.

Round 2 of the Australian Open starts Tuesday, when Zheng will face the world #37 ranked Corentin Moutet of France.