NEW YORK – Columbia men's tennis rising senior and reigning NCAA men's singles national champion Michael Zheng returns to the US Open for the third consecutive 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 up for grabs for individuals who capture three victories. Zheng will meet Japan's Yasutaka Uchiyama in the first round of qualifying on Tuesday. The duo will be the second match on court 12, the first match begins at 11 a.m. ET.
Zheng earned a wildcard into the event thanks to a win over Ohio State's Aiden Kim in the semifinals of the American Collegiate Wildcard Playoff at the USTA National Campus in Orlando in June.
Zheng enters the US Open qualifying tournament riding a wave of recent success. The Montville, N.J., native added an ATP Challenger Tour title to his long list of accomplishments last Sunday, with a victory over Yu Hsiou Hsu 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Chicago Men's Challenger.
Zheng continues to be recognized as part of an elite group of Columbia singles tennis players to compete in the US Open. Before 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, losing 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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