I should be seeded

Michael Zheng opined on not being seeded for the ongoing NCAA Championships despite being the defending singles champion. Zheng has been one of the top collegiate players in the nation, hailing from Columbia University.

Michael Zheng faltered in the finals of the 2024 NCAA Championships, which were traditionally held in the spring. Later, when the singles tournaments moved to autumn under the trial program, Zheng advanced to the finals and trounced Ozan Baris in the title run, becoming the first NCAA singles champion from Columbia since 1906. He also became the first Ivy League player to claim the singles title since 1992.

Now, as the NCAA Division I Championships kick off the second edition of the tournament under the pilot program, Michael Zheng has entered unseeded, as the ITA/NCAA does not consider non-college results. This often leaves top players without seedings, among other factors.

In an off-court interview, the 21-year-old discussed his unseeded status and said that while it wasn’t pleasant for him, it would be more damaging to other players than to him.

“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 was in contention at the ITA Conference Masters in San Diego, where his semifinal advancement booked him a spot on the NCAA Championships roster.

Michael Zheng shared a peek into what has been clicking for him on the Tour

Despite the 2022 Wimbledon boys’ singles final being unseeded, Zheng had plenty of opportunities to further his professional career, but he chose to pursue collegiate tennis instead. Now standing as the first Columbia men’s tennis player to earn All-American honors three times, Michael Zheng is en route to earning his fourth All-American honor and defending his National title.

In October this year, he spoke about how his serve had improved and how his confidence had increased compared with his performances in previous years.

“I feel like my serve has gotten a lot better, so I’m getting a few more free points. I think just a little bit of everything has been kind of clicking and just playing with confidence. It’s been working. Every week is a little bit different. I think that was something I struggled with before the last couple of years, but I’ve been doing a better job with that.” (via Tennis.com)

Zheng peaked at No. 180 on the ATP rankings, achieved in October this year.