ATP Tour

Zheng’s journey to Top 100: How a Centre Court tour became much more

After advancing through Wimbledon qualifying this year, Michael Zheng took a behind-the-scenes tour of the All England Club, highlighted by a glimpse of the iconic Centre Court.

At the time, the American thought it could be his only chance to see the very court where so much tennis history has unfolded. Little did Zheng know that his next visit, just days later, would be even better, returning to the hallowed court as a competitor. The 22-year-old reached the third round of the grass-court major and met third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Centre Court.

“Our tour guide told us that players have played at Wimbledon for 10 years without playing on Centre Court and it was my first year playing,” Zheng exclusively told ATPTour.com, speaking in Tiburon, California, where he won his third ATP Challenger trophy in 2025. “I got the tour just to see Centre Court, otherwise I might never get a chance to see it again. Then, I had the opportunity to play there. First year. That was pretty cool.”

Though the Canadian won in straight sets, it was a pinch-me moment for the two-time NCAA singles champion, who graduated from Columbia University in May and on Monday made his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings.

“Every kid dreams of breaking the Top 100. It’s super special,” said the New Jersey native. “To break into the Top 100 just shows all the work you’ve put in is paying off.”

Some of Zheng’s biggest results that have helped him ascend to a career-high No. 88 include that aforementioned third-round run at Wimbledon, while also reaching the same stage at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and at his home Slam, the US Open, where he competed as a wild card.

Zheng has been a formidable force this year in qualifying draws at ATP Tour events and Slam tournaments. He worked his way through qualifying at each of the season’s first three majors, as well as in Montreal and Cincinnati. Zheng is a perfect 12-0 in qualifying matches this year.

“Working your way through qualies — you have to prove yourself that you have the level,” Zheng said. “I had some very, very close matches in qualies. I was lucky to get through some of them. After those three matches [in Grand Slam qualifying], you belong. You’ve earned it. You beat three quality players and now the real tournament starts in the main draw.”

_{^{Michael Zheng competes at Wimbledon's Centre Court in July. Credit: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images}}

One of those close-call qualifying matches came in Melbourne, where Zheng calmly fended off a match point against Lukas Klein to seal his spot in the field of 128. Zheng then, in his major main-draw debut, ousted countryman Sebastian Korda in the opening round, a five-set victory he cited when reflecting on his most memorable moments of his first full season on Tour.

“Playing Korda in pretty much a packed stadium, deep in the fifth, you grow up thinking about playing three out of five, but you’ve never played three out of five before,” Zheng said, recalling his three-hour, 43-minute thriller against the former World No. 15 Korda. “You’re in the fifth set against a player who's been Top 20, one of the best players in the world. A packed arena in Australia, never travelled that far in my life. That was a really cool moment.”

Months later, while many Columbia University graduates were walking across the commencement stage in New York, Zheng was instead in Paris, competing at the clay-court major.

“My friends were getting ready to walk and they FaceTimed me,” said Zheng, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, a field of study he does not see directly relevant to his on-court performance. “I took a few pictures with my cap and gown at the French.”

Zheng, one of 14 Americans inside the Top 100, looks back on reaching the Wimbledon boys’ singles final in 2022 as a turning point in his young career. It was then that he began to believe he could make it as a professional tennis player.

“Up until that point, I was basically middle of the pack, just keeping up with my peers, winning one or two rounds at a Slam and the ITF events, but never really breaking through,” Zheng said. “I had that really good result at Wimbledon and I felt like I could really compete with the best in my age group and [I was like], ‘Why not see how far I can push it?’ I feel like the people around me always believed that I had the skills and ability, but after that tournament, I really started to believe in myself.”

Zheng has still only played nine tour-level events, making his breakthrough into the Top 100 feel like only the first chapter of his professional journey. As the American put it: “[The Top 100] is that benchmark, that milestone where once you get in there, you want to see how high you can go and how far you can push your tennis.”