Four Lions Selected for US Open Wild Card Playoff
5/28/2025 1:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Current Lions Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen set compete for US Open qualifying wild card spots
NEW YORK – Four members of the Columbia men's tennis have been selected to compete in the US Open Wild Card playoffs, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced Wednesday. The event will occur in Orlando, Fla., at the USTA National Campus from June 16-18. No other program in the nation has as many as two selections, earning the nod are juniors Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen as well as alums Theo Winegar '24 and Alex Kotzen '24.
The winners of a four-player men's and women's singles playoff and a four-team men's and women's doubles playoff will earn US Open main draw singles and doubles wild cards, respectively, while the men's and women's singles finalists will earn US Open qualifying wild cards.
Participation in the playoffs was determined by a committee made up of USTA staff, college tennis coaches and an ITA representative. Zheng earned his bid after winning the NCAA Singles Championship this fall. The 2025 Ivy League Player of the Year was recently named an ITA All-American and finished the 2024-25 season ranked No. 2 in the ITA rankings.
Zheng will partner with N. Kotzen in the doubles tournament. As the Lions' top doubles duo, Zheng and N. Kotzen finished the year ranked No. 23 in the doubles pairings and went 15-7. Kotzen earned First Team All-Ivy honors in both singles and doubles play.
Both Winegar and Alex Kotzen will compete in doubles. The duo graduated from Columbia in 2024 and used their final year of eligibility playing for Duke and Tennessee respectively. Winegar finished his career at Columbia with 63 wins in doubles play and was a three-time All-Ivy League honoree. Alex Kotzen also a three-time All-Ivy honoree finished his brilliant career with a 45-15 record in dual matches in singles play and had over 50 wins in doubles play.
All matches will begin at 5 p.m. ET and will be streamed on the USTA National Campus website.
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