Michael Zheng, a prominent figure in college tennis over the past few years, made history by winning his second NCAA singles title at the National Championships, becoming only the eighth player to secure consecutive titles since 1946. His win also made him the all-time leader of NCAA singles tournament victories, as he extended his tally to 19, surpassing Virginia's Somdev Devvarman.
Michael Zheng, raised in Montville, New Jersey, has been making waves since his school days at Delbarton School, where he won the state singles tennis championships. Having started college at Columbia University in the 2022-2023 season, Zheng reached the upper echelon of college athletes by becoming the first first-year student of his program to be honored as an ITA All-American.
At the 2024 NCAA Championships, when the tournament still followed the traditional spring schedule, Zheng reached the final but was defeated by Alabama's Filip Planinšek. Later that year, under a new pilot program that moved the NCAA Championships to the fall, he won the title by defeating Ozan Baris.
In the 2025 edition under the same program, he defended his title by defeating SMU's Trevor Svajda 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. He secured his name in college history. This feat came after USC's Steve Johnson's achievements in 2011 and 2012.
Despite his incredible show at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Michael Zheng was unseeded for the tournament, likely because he played non-college matches this year, which may have affected his ITA/NCAA points.
Talking about it, the 21-year-old stated that he deserved to be seeded.
"I mean I kind of expected a little bit I knew they did it like last year they did it based off the college rankings and I knew I didn't have basically enough ranked wins. A little bit expected but also unexpected obviously, I think I deserve to be seeded based off the fall results, but it's oka,y I mean, I think it's more detrimental for other players."
Zheng won three Challenger titles this year, in Chicago, Columbus, and Tiburon.
Michael Zheng was not familiar with the sport until he was six or seven, when he began accompanying his father and older sister to the local courts. When he started playing, his father, Joe Zheng, noticed that his son had instincts for the sport, good hand-eye coordination, and the ability to return the ball when needed.
"He thought I had some talent. I had some good hand-eye coordination and I was able to make the ball over the net even though I never touched a racquet before. He was super into tennis, had a lot of passion for the sport and he wanted to see how far he could take it."
He also shared that his father believed in him, saying:
"My dad always had absolute faith in me that I could end up making money being a professional tennis player. So the daily reinforcement helped me out and gave me the belief that maybe I have a shot at this."
Michael Zheng was in contention at the US Open this year, where he reached the second qualifying stage.