WACO, Texas – Columbia men's tennis junior
Michael Zheng defeated Princeton's Top Nidunjianzan on Wednesday in the NCAA Championships Round of 32 to secure ITA All-America honors for the third straight season. Zheng is the first person in program history to earn All-America recognition in three consecutive seasons.
As the No. 2 overall seed in the singles bracket, Zheng is off to a strong start at the NCAA Championships in Waco. Zheng posted a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 24 Jeremy Jin (Florida) in the first round of singles Tuesday. Zheng then followed that up with the 6-3, 6-3 win against Ivy League foe No. 84 Nidunjianzan (Princeton) on Wednesday to secure a spot in the Round of 16 against No. 14 Thomas Paulsell (Georgia) on Thursday.
"We are so proud of Michael," Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men's Tennis
Howard Endelman '87CC said. "Because of his dedication and commitment, he has improved and matured so much - both on and off the tennis court. Michael fully deserves every accomplishment that he earns."
Zheng looks to build on his historical run through the singles bracket at the NCAA Championships back in May. Zheng finished as the singles runner-up and became the first Lion to advance to the singles final of the NCAA Championships in the modern era. Columbia's Robert LeRoy won the event in 1904 and 1906. Zheng was also the first Ivy Leaguer to make the NCAA singles final since Harvard's James Blake did so in 1999.
Senior
Hugo Hashimoto made his first appearance at the NCAA Championships in singles on Tuesday. He battled to a third set against No. 19 Trevor Svajda (SMU), but fell short as his singles run this fall came to an end.
The 21
st-ranked duo of Zheng and Hashimoto also qualified for doubles at the NCAA Championships. The two were defeated by No. 41 Youcef Rihane and Alex Bulte (Florida State), 6-3, 6-1 in the Round of 32 Wednesday.
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