By Tracy Zwick
Columbia University senior Michael Zheng has won an elite Hurd Award, which comes with a $100,000 grant to help the rising tennis star transition from college to professional tennis. Two Hurd grants are given annually, to one male and one female tennis player. They were announced on the Tennis Channel at the BNP Paribas Open tournament Friday afternoon.
Zheng has won back-to-back NCAA Singles National Championships, competed in the U.S. Open, and made it to the second round of this year’s Australian Open. He recently achieved the ATP singles ranking of 145 in the world. Zheng and his Columbia men’s tennis teammates play at the Milstein Tennis Center on West 218th Street, where fans can see Zheng and the Lions in action for free.
The Lions are on the road next week, but will return to Milstein for matches on March 28th. Then they face Ivy League rivals Princeton, Harvard, and Dartmouth April 12th, 18th and 19th.
UWSer and Lions Men’s Tennis Head Coach Howard Endelman had this to say about Zheng: “He exemplifies all the qualities that make college sports great. He’s just a special individual. He’s done it on the court and in the classroom here at Columbia, and we could not be more proud.”
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