Before the final exams are over and the cap and gown come out, there is one more test facing every college tennis player: whether they can make the leap to the professional game. Plenty have tried, but success on the ATP Tour is never guaranteed. Nor is it a given for Michael Zheng.
But the 22-year-old American is doing his best to prove that theory wrong at Wimbledon. Zheng, who graduated from Columbia University in May following four years of college and tennis, upset home favourite and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie in a fifth-set tie-break on Monday for the biggest win of his career. Still, he cuts a relaxed figure despite the raucous atmosphere he has just walked off of on Court 2.
“When you're playing on a court like this and you're playing a British player who is the home favorite, I think college prepares you really well for that,” Zheng told ATPTour.com. “All the away games you go to, everyone is cheering against you. It’s how you deal with that kind of atmosphere, that pressure.”
Zheng was a two-time NCAA champion while at Columbia, winning the honours in 2024 and 2025, but even while balancing lectures, coursework and college tennis, he was already beginning to make his mark on the ATP Tour. In January, Zheng notched his first tour-level win in the first round of the Australian Open against countryman and former World No. 15 Sebastian Korda.
It was the first of three straight majors that Zheng has qualified for this year, including Wimbledon, where he will continue his run against Columbian qualifier Nicolas Mejia in the second round. Those Grand Slam appearances have come alongside a steady rise through the professional ranks while continuing his studies, with one opportunity in particular underlining the value of the PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator.
The programme provides additional playing opportunities for the best up-and-coming stars across junior, college and traditional pathways. Zheng won his first ATP Challenger title in Chicago last year using a PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator entry into the event.
“I think the Next Gen Accelerator is a really solid pathway to help college players and juniors when their level is there,” Zheng said. “You can skip the Futures grind, which is not easy. You have to win quite a lot of Futures to get into the Challenger level, and I feel like a lot of the top college players are ready to take on the Challenger level.
“Helping them kind of skip that couple of months, maybe even half a year of just grinding through Futures, helps a lot financially and just give them the confidence to go out there, get used to the level. I think you'll see more and more of the college players taking off once they use those spots and are playing these tournaments.”
Zheng has learned plenty during his four years at Columbia, but perhaps the biggest lesson is knowing exactly when the time is right to take the next step. He now believes he is “ready to give the pro Tour a shot”, although 'ready' feels like something of an understatement for a player who has already collected three ATP Challenger titles and is beginning to announce himself on the Grand Slam stage.
But what exactly has college taught Zheng and how has it transformed him into the man he is today? The same player who never flinched amid a partisan Court 2 crowd on Monday. The same young prospect who moments later walked into his post-match press conference wearing the same composed smile he had carried throughout the afternoon, answering every question with quiet confidence.
“I think I have developed a lot from four years ago, coming into college,” Zheng said. “I give a lot of credit to our head coach, Howie, and a lot of assistant coaches and our current [one] Ismael, the strength coach, Coach Sheehan back in school. I think they have done a really great job of preparing me to take on the pro Tour.
“Four years ago I knew I wasn't ready just physically for the week in, week out grind of the Tour, and I think the past four years, I developed a lot on that front. So I think now I'm ready to give the pro Tour a shot."
Michael Zheng competes at the ATP 500 in Dallas in February. Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images.
Physicality has been one of the defining factors behind Zheng’s rise from outside the world's Top 400 this time last year to the brink of a Top-100 breakthrough. At Wimbledon, Zheng is up 15 spots to No. 129 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and has guaranteed himself another career high when the rankings update.
“That's a goal every player has, it's almost that milestone of making it on the pro Tour,” Zheng said when asked about the Top 100. “You ask anyone what constitutes making it on the pro Tour, I think most people would say if you break in the Top 100. I think that's where you really start making money and making a living on Tour.”
For now, Zheng and his coach Ruan Roelofse are fully focused on the next challenge at Wimbledon. But regardless of how long his run lasts, the American has already shown that the route from college tennis to the ATP Tour can be more than just a stepping stone.
After graduating from Columbia in May, Zheng is rapidly emerging as one of the game's brightest young prospects, building on the promise that earned him a PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator opportunity and using it to fast-track his arrival on one of tennis' biggest stages.
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