Michael Zheng

Not to be confused with Michael Chang.
Michael Zheng
Zheng at the 2023 US Open
Country (sports) United States
Born (2004-01-27) January 27, 2004
Chesapeake, Virginia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeColumbia
Prize moneyUS $347,794
Singles
Career record1–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
3 Challenger
Highest rankingNo. 148 (2 February 2026)
Current rankingNo. 151 (9 February 2026)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2026)
US OpenQ2 (2023, 2025)
Doubles
Career record0–0 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 490 (25 August 2025)
Current rankingNo. 502 (2 February 2026)
Last updated on: 2 February 2026.

Michael Zheng (Chinese: 郑瑞 pinyin: Zhèng Ruì, born January 27, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 148 achieved on 2 February 2026 and a doubles ranking of No. 490 reached on 25 August 2025.[1]

Early life

Zheng was born in 2004 to Joe Zheng and Mei. His parents emigrated from Hubei, China, to the United States. [2]

Juniors and college years

Zheng is a current senior playing tennis at Columbia University. Raised in Montville, New Jersey, Zheng attended Delbarton School, where he won the state singles tennis championship in 2021. For his senior year, he transferred to Dwight Global Online School in order to accommodate his travel demands for tennis.[3][4]

Zheng reached the final of the Wimbledon boys' singles tournament in 2022, losing in the final to Mili Poljičak.[5][6][7] In the 2022–23 season, his first year at Columbia, he became the first first-year student athlete at the school to be named an ITA All-American, in addition to being the first Ivy League tennis player to win Ivy League Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and First-Team All-Ivy in singles and doubles all in the same season.[8][9]

He represented Columbia at the 2023 NCAA tennis tournament in singles, where he was eliminated by Michigan's Ondřej Štyler in the Round of 16.[10] In his sophomore season, Zheng reached the final of the 2024 NCAA Division I tennis men's singles championships, where he lost to Filip Planinšek of Alabama.[11] In the start of his junior year, the NCAA decided to move up the individual NCAA tournaments to the fall season instead of the spring season. There he once again reached the final of the Division I tennis men's singles championships. On November 24, 2024, he defeated Ozan Baris of Michigan State to become the first NCAA singles champion from Columbia since 1906, and the first Ivy League NCAA singles champion since 1922.[12][13][14] On November 23, 2025, Zheng defeated Trevor Svajda of SMU to become the first back-to-back NCAA champion since Steve Johnson in 2011 & 2012.[15]

Professional career

Zheng reached his first ATP Challenger Challenger final at the 2023 Caribbean Open, losing to Kei Nishikori.[16]

In May 2025, Zheng reached the final of the 2025 Little Rock Challenger, losing to Patrick Kypson.[17] In July, Zheng reached his first Challenger doubles final at the 2025 Cranbrook Tennis Classic with Theodore Winegar.[18] In August, Zheng won his first Challenger title in Chicago, defeating Hsu Yu-hsiou in the final.[19] He then won two more Challenger titles at Columbus and Tiburon with a 15 matches win streak.

In 2026, Zheng made it through 3 rounds of qualifying matches, including a tight 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(12–10) three-set win over Lukáš Klein, to make the main draw at the 2026 Australian Open, his first main draw appearance at a Grand Slam. In the first round, he defeated Sebastian Korda in 5 sets, marking his first win at a Grand Slam main draw.

Performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament 2023 2024 2025 2026 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A 2R 0 / 0 0–0  – 
French Open A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
US Open Q2 Q1 Q2 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 0 0 0
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
Year-end ranking 533 759 188  – 

ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (3–2)
ITF WTT (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–2)
Clay (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 2023 Caribbean Open, Puerto Rico Challenger Hard Japan Kei Nishikori 2–6, 5–7
Loss 0–2 May 2025 Little Rock Challenger, US Challenger Hard United States Patrick Kypson 1–6, 6–1, 5–7
Win 1–2 Aug 2025 Chicago Challenger, US Challenger Hard Chinese Taipei Hsu Yu-hsiou 6–4, 6–2
Win 2–2 Sep 2025 Columbus Challenger, US Challenger Hard (i) United States Martin Damm 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 3–2 Sep 2025 Tiburon Challenger, US Challenger Hard United States Tyler Zink 6–4, 6–4
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2022 M15 Orange Park, US WTT Clay China Wu Yibing 6–7(4–7), 5–7
Win 1–1 Aug 2024 M25 Southaven, US WTT Hard United States Tyler Zink 6–4, 7–6(7–3)

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
ITF WTT (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2025 Cranbrook Tennis Classic, US Challenger Hard United States Theodore Winegar Chinese Taipei Hsu Yu-hsiou
Chinese Taipei Huang Tsung-hao 		6–4, 3–6, [9–11]
Loss 0–2 Aug 2025 Chicago Challenger, US Challenger Hard United States Theodore Winegar United States Mac Kiger
United States Ryan Seggerman 		4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Aug 2024 M25 Southaven, US WTT Hard United Kingdom Lui Maxted United States Keshav Chopra
United States Andres Martin 		6–2, 6–4

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2022 Wimbledon Grass Croatia Mili Poljičak 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)

References

  1. ^ "Michael Zheng | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ "ATP Tour: Michael Zheng: Family's migration from China to 'American dream'". ATP_Tour. October 14, 2025.
  3. ^ Zagoris, Adam. "N.J. native Zheng inspires young fans in U.S. Open qualifying loss", The Star-Ledger, August 22, 2024. Accessed August 10, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "The 20-year-old Zheng, a Montville native and former state champion from Delbarton, attracted hundreds of fans to his match and came within a hair of winning."
  4. ^ Eckles, EJ. "Michael Zheng Captures NCAA Singles Tennis Championship", Delbarton School, November 25, 2024. Accessed August 10, 2025."The 2021 NJSIAA Boys Tennis Singles Champion during his junior year at Delbarton, Zheng left the school early to focus on his tennis career, a move that has clearly paid off."
  5. ^ McIver, Alastair (July 11, 2022). "Wimbledon | Poljicak spoils the American party".
  6. ^ "Michael Zheng - Men's Tennis". Columbia University Athletics.
  7. ^ Coleman, Brian (June 10, 2022). "Junior Player Spotlight: Michael Zheng, Dwight Global Online School". New York Tennis Magazine.
  8. ^ "Zheng Becomes First First-Year In Program History To Earn All-American Status". Columbia University Athletics. May 23, 2023.
  9. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  10. ^ "Michael Zheng's Run In NCAA Singles Championships Ends In Round Of 16". Columbia University Athletics. May 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "Filip Planinsek Wins NCAA Singles Championship". Bama Central. May 25, 2024.
  12. ^ Pohlmann, Zach (November 24, 2024). "National Champions Crowned at the 2024-25 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships". ITA #WeAreCollegeTennis.
  13. ^ "Vidmanova, Zheng win NCAA tennis singles titles". ESPN.com. November 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "Michael Zheng: Family's migration from China to 'American dream' | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  15. ^ "Michael Zheng Defends NCAA Singles Crown". Columbia University Athletics. September 26, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  16. ^ "Kei Nishikori Wins Palmas del Mar Challenger Title | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  17. ^ "Patrick Kypson hits wall, digs deep to win Little Rock Open | Arkansas Democrat Gazette". www.arkansasonline.com. June 2, 2025.
  18. ^ "Mark Lajal bests Andres Martin in thrilling singles final of Cranbrook Tennis Classic". July 28, 2025.
  19. ^ "Challenger Tour Weekly Recap: Zheng's First Title, Majchrzak Beats Prizmic in Blockbuster Final". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
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